Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who recently stirred the social media with his picture as Saadat Hasan Manto, continues to do interesting projects that have him making characters come alive in a way that only he can. At his work-cum-house space at Yari Road in Mumbai, he speaks to Prachi Pinglay-Plumber about the processes that an actor must go through, his choices ranging from small films like Haramkhor to a lavish series with BBC, the Hindi film industry and his brother’s short film on triple talaq. Excerpts:
How did you prepare for Manto, when not much is known about him? Your picture created quite a buzz on social media.
Yes, not much is known about him. Even when he died in Pakistan, there were just a small news items in both countries announcing his death. There has been work on his stories but not on him. Our director Nandita Das has been immersed in this project for five years now. She has been reading Manto, eating Manto, sleeping...