Nobody made big-budget films with GOATs Om Puri, Irrfan Khan: Nawazuddin Siddiqui

Nawazuddin Siddiqui lamented accomplished and acclaimed actors in the Hindi film industry being put in a box over the years and relegated to mid and small-budget films. In a new interview, the actor said that acclaimed actors like Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Irrfan Khan and Manoj Bajpayee were never cast as leads of big-budget films, even though the audience wanted to see them.

In an interview with a popular entertainment agency, Nawazuddin spoke about the GOAT actors of the Hindi film industry and said, “From Naseer sahab (Naseeruddin Shah) to Om Puri, then Pankaj Kapur and Irrfan Khan and Manoj Bajpayee… These are the greatest actors in our film industry. But unfortunately, nobody thought about making a big-budget film with them as leads. Nobody thought about this even though people in India were crazy about watching them on screen. They were wonderful actors, but their cinema could never reach the masses. They say there are public’s and industry’s actors. But the films of these public’s actors are not reaching the public. It saddens me.”

Nawazuddin added that while everyone fondly remembers Irrfan and Om Puri after their deaths, nobody offered them big films during their peaks. “Today, everyone talks about Irrfan Khan. Nobody paid heed to them when they were alive. Did anyone make a Rs 20-25 crore film with him? No!”

Siddiqui was most recently seen in ‘Costao’, a biographical crime drama directed by Sejal Shah. The film also stars Priya Bapat, Kishore, Hussain Dalal and Mahika Sharma.