"there is so much racism in our industry."
Nawazuddin Siddiqui pointed out that racism is a huge issue within Bollywood. He says that it is a bigger issue than nepotism.
The versatile actor made the comment as he spoke about his Netflix film Serious Men.
Serious Men was released on October 2, 2020, and was directed by Sudhir Mishra.
The film was praised and Nawazuddin was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Performance by an Actor.
One of the film’s talking points was the casting of Indira Tiwari as the female lead.
Nawazuddin spoke about Sudhir’s casting choice, highlighting the prevalent racism in the Indian film industry.
He said: “Sudhir Mishra has a lot of knowledge about cinema and his thought process is practical.
“He did not take a conventional heroine for the film.
“I have to tell you that there is so much racism in our industry.
“I will be very happy if that girl (Indira Tiwari) is made a heroine once again.
“Sudhir Mishra did make her a heroine in his film, but I will be happier if the big people in our film industry cast her as a heroine in their films.
“More than nepotism, there is racism in our industry, and I have been fighting it for years.”
“I hope that brown actresses are also made heroines in films and it is necessary.
“I am not talking about black and white skin colours, but better films would be made if the biasness towards one particular skin colour is over.”
Nawazuddin Siddiqui went on to say that due to his skin colour, he was rejected from films in the past.
He told Bollywood Hungama: “Initially, I was rejected in films because of my short height and brown skin.
“I do not wish to talk about it today because God has given me more than I could ever ask for, many directors have given me more than I deserve.
“But I want to say that there are many artists out there who lose out on because of skin colour.”
Nawazuddin’s Emmy nomination will see him compete with Christian Tappan (The Great Heist), David Tennant (Des) and Roy Nik (Normali).
Nawazuddin has a number of projects lined up, including Bole Chudiyan, Jogira Sara Ra Ra and No Land’s Man.
In addition to Serious Men, his show Sacred Games was also nominated for an International Emmy.
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