Nawazuddin Siddiqui recently opened up about his long association with Kamal Haasan. Talking to Filmfare, he shared how he went from working with Kamal to seeing how much he respects his craft. He also shared how he once failed a task given by Kamal.

‘I was asked to perform it 10 different ways’

In the interview, Nawazuddin shared that he has great respect for Kamal and that he had even worked as a dialogue coach for his 2001 film Abhay (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.”

After talking about his cut scene from Hey Ram, Nawazuddin said, “Nonetheless, through these opportunities, I could interact with Kamal. Once, I performed Tughlaq’s speech for him, I was so proud of it. He asked me if I could perform the same thing 10 different ways. I said, I can do 3-4 at the most. But, he can do it. He’s a dancer and has control over his whole body, he’s such a great actor.”

‘I wept bitterly when my scenes were cut’

This is not the first time Nawazuddin has spoken about his scenes being cut from Hey Ram. He once told SpotboyE, “It was actually a substantial role. I was supposed to be this victim of a mob attack whom Kamalji rescues. I was excited about this opportunity to share screen space with my idol. I wept bitterly. I remember Kamalji’s daughter Shruti consoling me. Though Kamalji cut my role there was no illwill whatsoever in my heart. How could I be resentful?"

Nawazuddin will soon be seen in films titled Oil Kumar, Adbhut, Noorani Chehra and Sangeen.