Nawazuddin Siddiqui

Nawazuddin Siddiqui is an Indian film actor who works in Hindi cinema. After a period of unnoticed performances in his early career, he received the Special Jury Award at the 2012 National Film Awards and Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2013. Siddiqui made his Bollywood debut in 1999, with a small role in Aamir Khan starrer, Sarfarosh. After that, he played a messenger in the movie Jungle; later he hung out at film studios and shootings but only got stereotypical roles. He shared screen along with Sunil Dutt and Sanjay Dutt in Munnabhai MBBS in the opening scenes where he tries to pick the pocket of Sunil Dutt. He did a short film The Bypass in 2003, where he appeared with Irrfan Khan.His appearance in Anurag Kashyap's Black Friday (2007) paved way for other powerful roles. His first lead role in a feature film was as the wedding singer Chakku in Prashant Bhargava's Patang (shot in 2007-2008), which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival and Tribeca Film Festival, for which Siddiqui's performance was praised by renowned film critic Roger Ebert (awarding the film four stars), a role which 'transformed his acting style'. In 2009, he appeared in a cameo role in the song "Emotional Atyachar" in the movie Dev D in his moniker as Rangila along with his duo Rasila (known together as Patna ke Presley). Siddiqui was noticed in the film New York. However it was his role of a journalist in Aamir Khan Productions's Peepli Live (2010), that first got him recognition as an actor. He became a household name post Kahaani (2012), where he played the archetypal short-tempered intelligence officer Khan. Anurag Kashyap's gangster epic Gangs of Wasseypur followed which furthered his fame. He played his first primary role as Sonu Duggal in Ashim Ahluwalia's Miss Lovely, which premiered at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, a role Siddiqui describes as his "most real performance so far." Siddiqui then followed this up with the sequel to Gangs of Wasseypur. In 2013, he played the lead role in the horror flick Aatma. He appeared in Aamir Khan's 2012 release, Talash. His film Patang, which was released in the U.S. and Canada, garnered much attention with rave reviews from the New York Times, and Los Angeles Times. In 2014, he played the role of a villain, Shiv Gajra, in Kick. In 2015, Siddiqui's films Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Manjhi - The Mountain Man released and he was praised for his roles. Siddiqui appeared in a film based in Gujarat, titled Haraamkhor. For his performance in Haramkhor, he was awarded the Best Actor at the New York Indian Film Festival.

Born on: 19 May, 1974

Born in: Budhana, Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India