Even TV industry had rejected me: Nawazuddin

Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui in a heart-to-heart chat with Times of India
You are doing Ketan Mehta’s biopic —Mountain Man?
Yes, it will be my most challenging role so far because Dashrath Manji, a Bihar based labourer did an impossible task of cutting a road from a mountain and he took 22 years to do that. It will require research and capacity to get into the skin of the character and work on this.I remember Ketan Mehta as a filmmaker who gave us movies like Holi and Mirch Masala. One has to understand the intelligence or vision of a filmmaker.
You are a favourite with Anurag Kashyap.
Anurag is a genius. I have been working with him for a long time now and when he is directing me, I know that I will give my best!
Gangs of Wasseypur part 2 did not make as much money as GOW 1.
GOW – 2 was made on a small budget of `8 crore and the movie’s first week collections were higher than GOW – 1. The movie did a business of `18 crore. In fact, till date all my films whether it is Kahaani, Paan Singh Tomar or GOW-2, all my movies have earned money at the BO.

Would you like to be part of `100 crore club of films now?
Never! There are filmmakers who make films in `90 crores budget and when their films make `100 crore, they throw a party. I am not interested in doing films with cliché characters and scripts — ek raja hota hai, ek raani hoti hai, ek villain aata hai and ladaai hoti hai, and then they live happily ever after! I want to do different genres and I want to play characters that people can relate to. Every time when I have visited international film festivals, people ask me why do Bollywood filmmakers spend so much on songs and why are dancers dancing like that behind a hero? They understand Bollywood only as song and dance films, which is not true. It is high time small budget films are showcased abroad.
Your struggling days include working with C-grade filmmakers. You are portraying a similar character in your next flick?
My struggle period has many horrible stories but I would rather not talk about them. In fact, there was a time when the TV show makers would reject me for even a beggar’s role, because I was not tall enough. The television industry didn’t give me any work. I also worked with C-grade filmmakers and did small roles for survival. My next film, Miss Lovelyis about a C-grade filmmaker.
With your new found stardom, what are your dreams?
My dreams have never been about buying a house or a car. I have decided that I would like to be part of meaningful films and believe me, if I don’t get good films, I will go back to my village in UP and do farming.