Nawazuddin Siddiqui on actors discriminated based on looks, says "no one made a big film with…"

Nawazuddin Siddiqui is an actor par excellence. Over the years, he has delivered some stellar performances. The actor loves to experiment with the roles that he takes on, and he is in so many ways a director's first choice when they are looking for absolute versatility. However, there have been rare times when he has been the conventional "hero" of a big-budget film despite proving his mettle in several films, most of which have been small-budget films. Recently, the actor spoke about how actors in India are discriminated because of their looks. 

In an interview with Mid-Day recently, Nawazuddin mentioned that even though actors like Irrfan Khan, Manoj Bajpayee, Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri are considered great actors, no producer or director has signed them for a major big-budget film. Nawaz also admitted that something such as this would happen only in India. 

The actor said, "We are seeing what's happening to the films that are coming nowadays with new actors. The problem is, whether it was Irfan (Khan) bhai, or Manoj (Bajpayee), Naseeruddin (Shah) saab or Om Puri saab, has anyone ever made a film with them worth {20-30 crore? Today, you shower praise at them and call them great actors, but no one ever made a big film with them. It happens only here."

Nawaz further elucidated on why he thinks such discrimination only exists in India. He mentioned that actors are not discriminated against simply based on their looks at an international level. He spoke about how it is only in India that there are categories of actors. 

Siddiqui, while talking about how actors are treated internationally, he said, "Internationally, they don't differentiate between actors. They just cast a good actor. Here, we have categories like actor, hero, star, superstar. We have such great actors among us, you will spot them in movies or series in smaller roles. They aren't supporting actors. They are great actors. Yet no one thought of making a film with them. And maybe no one ever will. We will be gone one day, but this will go on."

In terms of work, the actor is currently keeping busy with the promotions of 'Costao', which is releasing on May 1 on OTT. The actor is popularly known for his roles in 'Sacred Games', 'Gangs of Wasseypur', 'Badlapur', 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' and many such amazing projects.