Nawazuddin Siddiqui On Reprising His Role In Bajrangi Bhaijaan Sequel: "It Depends On The Makers"
New Delhi:
The 2015 film Bajrangi Bhaijaan, directed by Kabir Khan, is one of Salman Khan's finest films to date. The film also had Harshaali Malhotra, Kareena Kapoor Khan, and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in key roles.
Recently, the writer of Bajrangi Bhaijaan, V Vijayendra Prasad, revealed that he had met Salman Khan to discuss the story for a possible sequel to the Kabir Khan-directed film.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui played Chand Nawab, a Pakistani reporter, in the film.
In a conversation with Hindustan Times, Nawazuddin responded to the rumours, "I don't have any information on a sequel being made. It (the decision to cast him) depends on them (the makers). I cannot be ' main first mein tha toh mujhe bhi lo. ' It doesn't work like that. Agar unki zaroorat hogi, toh hum haazir ho jayenge."
The plot of Bajrangi Bhaijaan revolves around a Hindu man played by Salman Khan, who goes out of his way to help a mute Pakistani girl (Harshaali Malhotra) to find her way back home after she gets lost in India. The film was applauded both for its critical and commercial success.
In the same interview, Nawazuddin was also asked about being a part of Gangs Of Wasseypur's third instalment, to which he said, "Film banegi hi nahi. Woh director (Anurag Kashyap) hi nahi chahta. The good thing about Anurag is that he is not stuck in nostalgia. He is someone (who believes that) once it's done, it's done. Move on."
On the work front, Nawazuddin Siddiqui had his OTT film Costao released last week. The biographical crime drama is directed by Sejal Shah and has received a positive response from the viewers.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
Exclusive - Worship Khanna: Bigg Boss often plays with your mental state, your emotions; Shehnaaz Gill is my all time favourite contestant
Pati Brahmachari actor Worship Khanna has never shied away from voicing his opinions, and when it comes to a show as layered as Bigg Boss, he offers an insight from both a viewer's lens and a potential participant's mind. He believes the emotional highs and lows that often become the high points of the show are orchestrated to gain more viewership. 'This show is all about emotions and personality inside the house, not the outside world. Bigg Boss often plays with your mental state and your emotions, and honestly, I don't think there's anything wrong with that. We all carry so many emotions inside us. Some of us express them, and some of us suppress them. This show puts you in a situation where you start to discover how much self-control you really have and how much you can handle,' he said. While he acknowledges that the show introduces emotional triggers, like bringing in a family member or sending a letter, he doesn't call it manipulation but rather a true test of strength. He added, 'It also adds to the TRP. But I find all of this very interesting, to be honest. The whole game is actually about mental strength—how strong you are emotionally and mentally.' by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Dermatologist: This Household Item Is Like Bleach On Dark Spots Dark Spot Corrector Undo When asked if he'd ever call out biased behavior by host Salman Khan , the young actor is firm in his stance; however, he was quick to mention that he has never personally found the superstar host to be biased. He said, 'If he were really biased, Shehnaaz Gill wouldn't have become Shehnaaz Gill. Some people might feel that he is softer or more polite with certain contestants, especially senior actors, and they think that's biased. But I don't think that's biased. That's respect. Salman Khan has been in the industry for so many years, and when you've seen someone's work or know them personally, you naturally have a certain amount of respect for them.' 'So when they do something wrong, you might not confront them with the same intensity as you would do to a stranger. That's just human nature. Even Salman Khan is human. He's also a part of the game. If someone feels he's being biased, maybe it's just the way he's treating people with seniority or past connections, not actual unfairness,' he added. Worship also didn't hold back when asked whether some past winners deserved the title. He feels that in recent years, influencers and social media personalities have won due to their massive online following. He feels that is not fair and added, 'The show wasn't created for that. So in my personal opinion, they shouldn't have won the trophy. That said, at the end of the day, it's the public who decides the winner, and I fully respect the audience's decision. If the public gives them the trophy, we accept it.' He further said, 'But the problem is that people forget what this show is truly about. I keep saying this: Bigg Boss is not about how famous you are. This show is about your real personality and how you react in real-life emotional moments like anger, sadness, happiness, fights, breakdowns, or during tasks. It's about how you express yourself, what stand you take in difficult situations, and how truthful you are to yourself and others. ' When it comes to his all-time favorite contestant, Worship took Shehnaaz Gill's without hesitation. She wasn't someone he knew before the show, but her unfiltered charm, relatability, and sheer honesty won him over. He said, 'She came into a house filled with glamorous girls, zero-figure bodies, and well-known personalities, yet she managed to grab all the attention. She wasn't trying too hard. She was just herself—raw, unfiltered, and honest. I became a fan of her because of her cuteness, honesty, and how real she was. When she wanted to laugh, she laughed freely. That's exactly what I loved about her: she didn't try to create a fake image.' 'She was just being Shehnaaz. And honestly, that's the best way to play this game. And look at where she is today! I believe that out of all the Bigg Boss contestants, even the winners, no one has made better use of the Bigg Boss fame than Shehnaaz Gill,' he concluded. #ShehnaazGill On The RAMP At BTFW 2023 | #shorts
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
Penguins, platonic pyaar and a labubu love story
Twinkle Khanna aka Mrs Funnybones crafts satirical stories and funny fables when she is not running a design business, selling candles or running in circles around her small but rather odd family. She narrowly escaped a gruesome tragedy when Bollywood tried to bludgeon her brain to the size of a pea, but she ducked at the right moment and escaped miraculously unharmed; she is now a popular columnist as well and is currently in the process of creating lame jokes like ' Why do all Hindu boys worship their mother? Because their religion tells them to worship the cow.' She firmly believes that nothing in life is sacred except laughter. (Not even her name, which she is secretly trying to change to Chetali Bhagat so that her columns get made into movies.) LESS ... MORE 8am My younger one and I are debating who gets to hang the Coke-wielding Labubu on their bag today. This is unprecedented in our household — she usually leans toward Mr Beast sweatshirts, and my sartorial attempts are an ambiguous puddle of mostly Zara, sometimes what the Devil Wears (Prada), and God's favourite (if she hasn't lost everything in the stock market) Hermes. My daughter wins this contest with a simple fact, 'Mom, Labubu is a toy. I'm a child. You're an adult. It's like me wearing your big gold ring to school. It's not OK for your age.' Shamed by my own child, I give in. She hangs it on her backpack and rushes off to school. ILLUSTRATION CREDIT: Chad Crowe (USA) For the blissfully unaware, Labubu is a creepy elf conceived by the Hong Kong-born Kasing Lung and turned by Chinese toy retailer Pop Mart into a fuzzy cultural phenomenon. Everyone from Rihanna to schoolgirls in Mumbai are desperate to hang one on their bag. Pop Mart CEO Wang Ning's fortune jumped $1.6 billion in a day because of these stuffed dolls. Trump may keep imposing tariffs on China, but clearly, the Chinese are fighting back one creepy doll at a time. 10am I call my sister to blame her: 'You made me buy this Labubu, and now I'm hooked. In the mornings, I'm studying philosophy. In the evenings, I hang a Labubu on my bag. I don't know who I am anymore.' She replies, 'I do. You're an idiot. You've always been one. Who thinks so much about a bag charm?' 11am I call my older one. Considering he studies fashion, he should have some insights into this Labubu phenomenon. His verdict is, 'I don't get it, Mom. It's ugly.' I try to explain, 'You know, yesterday I just read a bit about Socrates once taking part in a beauty contest. He argued anything is beautiful if it fulfils its function. So, by that logic, Labubu is beautiful. It's designed to evoke nostalgia and the same emotional response we experience when seeing babies or puppies. Acha, forget all this and go to Oxford Street, line up at Pop-Mart and get me some more.' My son reports that it's a futile quest. 'Mom, it's pointless. BBC said that Pop Mart's stopped selling Labubus at high street stores because of all the chaos outside with queues and squabbles.' It's good to know that the BBC has found time between Gaza and Ukraine to cover Labubu sales. 3.30pm Scanning the news in amchi Mumbai, I note a ruckus at the Byculla zoo over the names of three newly hatched penguin chicks — Noddy, Tom, and Pingu. BJP's Nitin Bankar is leading a protest demanding that the penguins get Marathi names. If you ask me, they really should retain 'Pingu'. It fits with our cultural tradition of affectionate 'u' endings. Akhilesh Yadav is Tipu, Hrithik Roshan is Duggu, and Rahul Gandhi is Pappu. Then why not Pingu? Still, it's now a matter of national importance. 4pm A close friend recently diagnosed with a serious illness sends me a picture of her seven Labubus gifted by friends to cheer her up. A furry toy doing the job of Sadhguru and Sri Sri by mitigating the uncertainty of mortality. 4.30pm I come across Sydney Sweeney selling soap made from her bathwater. Better than the influencer who sold her farts for $1,000 and landed in the hospital after producing 97 jars by eating beans and boiled eggs. If Sydney wants her soaps to sell, she should harness the secret of Pop Mart's success — the thrill of surprise. Labubus are sold in blind boxes, so you don't know what you're getting until you open it. It reminds me of that Gold Spot contest when we were kids. We had to collect bottle caps with 'Jungle Book' characters. I don't even remember the prize. We were just chugging Gold Spot. The thrill of discovery trumps the actual reward. Robert Sapolsky, a neuroscientist who trained monkeys to recognise a light signal for a reward, concluded that the unpredictability of reward increases anticipation and dopamine. That keeps the monkey pressing the lever. Or the adult standing in line at 4am for a Labubu. 6pm My perpetually stiff neck has me lying on a hot water bag, interpreting Rorschach patterns on the damp ceiling. If we're being metaphysical, may I suggest that every man who turned out to be a headache began as a pain in the neck. As I reflect on this theory, the man of the house bursts in with two bags and lots of squeals. Like Santa with six-packs, he's pulled strings from Mumbai to Hong Kong to get us Labubus. Now we have an assortment. The purple one in a gold dress I christen 'The Sindhi Labubu,' as she looks like she is off to a wedding to outshine the bride. My headache disappears. My daughter's thrilled. And I realise I now own a collection of things I wasn't even trying to collect. 7pm I hang three Labubus on my bag as we leave for dinner. When my husband asks why I've taken them from our daughter, I say, 'For philosophical, anthropological, and psychological reasons. You know we're wired to find big-eyed things cute, whether they are penguins with or without Marathi names or Labubus. That reminds me, are you having trouble with the casting of 'Hera Pheri 3'? Forget human beings. Cast the three penguins. Rename them Raju, Baburao, Shyam. The politicians will be appeased, and you will save money on costumes, too, as they are already in tuxedos.' 'Please leave films to me.' he says, 'Focus on your creepy dolls.' I try explaining that a Labubu is simple to chase. Not like ambition or profit margins or self-worth. Real reinvention takes effort — therapy, sabbaticals, new degrees. Fashion is the lazy shortcut to reinvention. The reason we shift from skinny jeans to flares, ballet flats to jelly shoes. Or hang a fuzzy monster on our bags in a quest to update our identities. 'Labubus are the new recipients of my platonic love.' I tell him, 'In Plato's 'Symposium', Socrates says love for a person makes you vulnerable. They may leave or die. But loving a concept: astronomy, justice, literature can't hurt you. It won't leave. That is the origin of the term 'platonic love', by the way. Labubus can't love you back but they can't leave you either. Unless they are stolen. Hey, should we insure our Labubus,' I ask. 'Does this Labubu chap also sell blind boxes for new wives,' he says with a sigh. That's why I prefer platonic over romantic love. The object of your affection, along with not leaving you, doesn't talk back either. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
Mint
6 hours ago
- Mint
India's highest-paid OTT actor earned ₹125 crore for 7 episodes, more than Shah Rukh Khan or Salman Khan's salary
Streaming platforms are undeniably reshaping the definition of stardom. Gone are the days when people thought OTT was for unconventional actors. In fact, this A-list Bollywood actor has broken all boundaries, outshining Bollywood biggies like Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan. Earning a staggering ₹ 125 crore for a single show, he's the highest-paid actor on OTT with a net worth of ₹ 427 crore (approximately $50 million USD), as per multiple reports. Ajay became the highest-paid OTT actor in 2021 when he signed for the Hindi adaptation of the hit British series, Luther, Rudra: Edge of Darkness. Starring as the cop with a dark history, he reportedly charged more than ₹ 100 crore for the seven-episode show. As per a report of Bollywood Hungama, Ajay was paid almost ₹ 18 crore per episode of the show. In total, he took home ₹ 125 crore and became the highest-paid actor in Indian entertainment history. His salary beats big players like Shah Rukh Khan who reportedly charged between ₹ 90 and ₹ 100 crore for his films Raees and Zero. Salman Khan is believed to charge a similar amount for his film, Bharat. Around the same time, Salman reportedly received a payment of approximately ₹ 50 crore for his 2021 film Antim: The Final Truth. He is likely to earn a little more for his film Radhe which was also released in the same year. Besides them, Saif Ali Khan who became the first superstar of Bollywood to foray into OTT with Netflix's Sacred Games, charged way less than Ajay. He was reportedly paid ₹ 15-20 for the latest, Sacred Games season 2. Even, Varun Dhawan earned between ₹ 12-15 crore for Citadel: Honey Bunny, reported Hindustan Times. As per a report of GQ, other promiment OTT stars such as Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Pankaj Tripathi, Ali Fazal, and Samantha Ruth Prabhu have received payments between ₹ 5-10 crore for their OTT shows. Jaideep Ahlawat reportedly received ₹ 20 crore as his salary for Patal Lok Season 2. Ajay was last seen in Raid 2. He has several projects in the pipeline, including Son of Sardaar 2, De De Pyaar De 2 and Dhamaal 4. However, all of these will see a theatrical release.
