Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui opens up on playing transgender in ‘Haddi’, says ‘I need to think like a woman’

No shock that the first from actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s upcoming film Haddi, directed by Akshat Ajay Sharma, is a revenge drama trend. In an extraordinary conversation with the main portal, Nawaz said, “It’s only been a few days. We have started shooting for Haddi. I will be playing two characters in the movie — I will be playing a girl and a transgender. They are two separate parts, it is a dual role. Akshat had this script and wanted to do the movie for almost 4 years. Akshat worked as Second Unit Director on AK VS AK and Sacred Games. I got to know Anurag Kashyap because of the time he worked with him. Now we are making this project possible sooner or later.”

He further said, “If I play a woman role, I want to assume as a girl and that is my test as an actor.

Talking about getting dressed for the role, Nawazuddin shared, “It takes me three hours to get ready. Now I understand why an actress can take longer to get out of her arrogance van than her male counterparts. It’s practically fair.”

The skilled actor then again feels that getting the look right is not enough for an impactful and significant performance. “Clothes, hair, make-up, yeh sab toh thek hai…it’s not my concern anymore. It has experts and they understand their work. My difficulty is getting the inner thought process right. What do women think? What do they want? An actor’s job is to go into the head of his character. As a woman, your perception and perspective on aspects of life may be different and that is the hardest part about Haddi for me. You will not see the world if you look at it for one hour. The movie is no longer about clothes and gestures. The technique is more internal and profound is the primary challenge I want to convey to the audience.”

He further revealed, “I worked with many female directors and this has helped me. I realized that girls look different in the world. They are more compassionate than some distance and they see beauty in everything. This shows in our relationships as well. A woman’s gaze is sympathetic and sensitive. I am deeply trying to recognize that factor of karma.”

With hair, make-up and outfit, the actor takes close to three hours a day to make his lady look perfect. On this note, the actor shared, his daughter was upset when she saw him in a woman’s clothes. He is now aware that it is for a function and he understands it.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Nawaz has an interesting lineup of videos including ‘Tiku Weds Sheru’, ‘Noorani Chehra’, and ‘Weird’ among others.