Nawazuddin Siddiqui is currently in the news for his latest release Costao. The actor got candid about how legends like Om Puri and Irrfan Khan did not get the kind of big-budget films they deserved while they were alive.
Nawazuddin told Pinkvilla, "From Naseer Sahab (Naseeruddin Shah) to Om Puri, then Pankaj Kapur and Irrfan Khan and Manoj Bajpayee; these are the greatest actors of our film industry. But unfortunately, nobody thought about making a big-budget film with them as leads. Nobody thought about this, even though people in India were crazy about watching them on screen. They were wonderful actors, but their cinema could never reach the masses. They say there are public actors and industry actors. But the films of these public actors are not reaching the public. It saddens me."
Furthermore, Nawazuddin mentioned that while Om Puri and Irrfan Khan were alive, no one valued them as much as they should have. Despite audiences loving their work and wanting to see more of it on the big screen.
He said, "Aaj sab Irrfan Khan Irrfan karte hain. Jab zinda the tab to qadr ki nahi (Today everyone talks about Irrfan Khan. Nobody paid heed to them when they were alive). Did anyone make a Rs 20-25 crore film with him? No!"
Veteran actors like Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, and Pankaj Kapur were regarded as the most respected names during the 80s parallel cinema phase. An actor like Manoj Bajpayee, even to date, is considered to be the lead in small-budget films like Bhaiyya Ji, and previously the acclaimed Gangs of Wasseypur. But they have never been the first names to be picked for out-and-out commercial films. Nawazuddin Siddiqui expressed his disappointment on the same.
On the work front, Nawazuddin Siddiqui's Costao is a biographical crime drama helmed by Sejal Shah. It had Priya Bapat, Kishore, Hussain Dalal, and Mahika Sharma in key roles. The film dropped on Zee5 on May 1, 2025.
