Nawazuddin Siddiqui emulated Al Pacino on first day of Gangs Of Wasseypur shoot, Anurag Kashyap asked him, ‘Bewakuf hai kya tu?'

Indian Express

5 hours ago

Nawazuddin Siddiqui's portrayal of the cold-blooded gangster Faisal Khan in Gangs Of Wasseypur (2012) is still remembered after all these years. The actor recently revealed that on the first day of shoot, he was attempting to emulate American actor Al Pacino. However, director and close friend Anurag Kashyap advised him to drop the approach and just be himself.
During a candid conversation with Filmfare, the actor shared, 'I went on the first day acting like Al Pacino. I had thought about emulating him beforehand. Thoda bhoot chaaya hua tha. I used to have phases – Robert De Niro for three months, Al Pacino for three months, and Brando. He said, 'Bewakuf hai kya tu? Don't do that, you will become stiff and stuck at one place.'
Nawazuddin Siddiqui added that Anurag Kashyap gave him a wake-up call to act like himself and not mimic Al Pacino. 'I did the scenes Al Pacino style on the first day of shoot. Anurag came to my room at night and asked what am I upto. He said you are being very stiff, Al Pacino type. I told him that I wanted to show my power,' he said.
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The actor added, 'Anurag said that vo mera kaam hai, main tere peeche 6 foot ke log khade kardunga, apne aap powerful lagega (That's my work, I will put tall men behind you, you will look powerful). Don't do anything, be normal. I couldn't sleep the whole night. I felt that he was right.'
It was after the director's intervention that Nawazuddin Siddiqui acted naturally on the next day of shoot. 'The very next day, I went and forgot everything. Bhaad mein jaaye, main Nawaz hu, main jaisa dikhta hu vaisa hi jaakar karunga.'
Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Anurag Kashyap's Gangs Of Wasseypur was a commercial and critically success. The film also starred Manoj Bajpayee, Huma Qureshi, Richa Chadha, Pankaj Tripathi and Jaideep Ahlawat.