Meet actor, who coached Kamal Haasan, trained Ranveer Singh; then became huge star, worked with Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, is now...

Born in a small town of Budhana in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, Nawazuddin Siddiqui wanted to become an actor and graduated from the National School of Drama in Delhi in 1999. He has even done odd jobs such as a watchman and a chemist for his survival. Siddiqui was seen in minor roles in films such as Sarfarosh, Munna Bhai MBBS, and Black Friday among others, before breaking out with Kahaani and Gangs of Wasseypur duology in 2012.

In an interview with Filmfare in 2024, Nawazuddin Siddiqui shared how he got an opportunity to work with Kamal Haasan as a dialogue coach for his 2001 film Abhay, also shot in Tamil as Aalavandhan. He said, "I love Kamal Haasan saab. I was even the dialogue coach for his film Abhay. I was jobless back then so I could pick gigs like this. A senior from NSD asked me if I wanted to work down south. That’s how I worked for the Hindi dialogues in the film."

When he wasn't getting much offers, Nawazuddin Siddiqui even conducted occasional acting workshops and in one of those workshops, his student was Ranveer Singh. Talking to Pinkvilla in 2025, he shared, "I trained Ranveer for a while for his role in Band Baaja Baarat, and in one sense, I had become the ‘workshop guy’. I used to say that whoever wants to be an actor and get launched, I am there for you. Even though he was in the workshop, I don’t believe you actually teach acting; he had his own capabilities. All I did was show him several ways to use that skill, but at the end of the day, the person has to do it themselves."

In 2012, Nawazuddin Siddiqui shared screen space with Aamir Khan in Reema Kagti-directed psychological crime thriller Talaash. He played the pivotal role of a goon named Taimur in the film, which also starred Kareena Kapoor Khan, Rani Mukerji, and Rajkummar Rao. Talaash has emerged as one of the cult films from the last decade.

Nawazuddin has worked with Salman Khan in the 2014 film Kick, in which he played the villain Shiv Gajra, and the 2015 film Bajrangi Bhaijaan, where he played a struggling journalist Chand Nawab. Both the movies became blockbusters, with the latter becoming one of the most loved films in the recent times and also grossing over Rs 900 crore globally.

In the 2017 action drama Raees, Nawazuddin played the cop Jaideep Ambalal Majmudar chasing the gangster Raees Alam, portrayed by Shah Rukh Khan. It is the only Hindi film of the Pakistani actress Mahira Khan. Siddiqui once again impressed the audiences and critics with his performance in the Rahul Dholakia film.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui was most recently seen as the Goa customs officer Costao Fernandes in the crime drama film Costao, which premiered directly on ZEE5 on May 1. His upcoming films include Thama in Maddock Horror Comedy Universe, the legal drama Section 108, and the crime thriller Raat Akeli Hai 2.