Anurag Kashyap Reveals How He Discovered Nawazuddin Siddiqui Through Rajpal Yadav

Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s journey from a struggling actor to a celebrated star is well known. Early in his career, he took many minor and forgettable roles. The turning point came when Anurag Kashyap spotted Nawaz’s talent and offered him one of the greatest movies of his career, Gangs of Wasseypur. However, their collaboration began way before they came together for the gangster drama. While appearing at the Jaipur Literature Festival, Anurag shared an interesting backstory about his meeting with Nawaz which happened through Rajpal Yadav. The Bhool Bhulaiyaa star was leaving Mumbai after struggling to find work, but it was Anurag who stopped and gave him a role in Shool. Nawaz, a close friend of Rajpal, came along and landed a small part in the same film.

The filmmaker explained, “I met Nawaz in 1997. Actually, my friend Ashfaq ul Haq, who has appeared in my films and was also in Black Friday, called me one day saying, ‘We have a very good actor from NSD who is leaving Mumbai. If you can stop him, please try.’ I asked, ‘Where is he?’ and he said, ‘He’s catching a train from Andheri station.’ So, we ran there and the actor was Rajpal Yadav. In 1997, Rajpal Yadav was very disappointed and was about to leave Mumbai. I gave him a role in Shool as a coolie, which helped start his career.”

“Rajpal had a friend with him, a thin and lean guy, who was Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Nawazuddin wasn’t leaving Mumbai, but he was Rajpal’s friend. When I gave Rajpal a role, Nawazuddin also asked for a role. There wasn’t a suitable role for Nawaz, so I gave him a small part as a waiter in Shool. Nawaz said, ‘I can do it.’ I told him the role wasn’t important, but he insisted saying, ‘Sir, I’ll do it for 500 rupees.’ He had a money problem, so that’s how I met Nawaz,” Anurag Kashyap added.

Reacting to the post, a user wrote, “Just helping 2 people out and your choice echoes through the whole industry.”

Another shared, “You can understand the impact of Rajpal Yadav that the audience started to laugh as they heard his name.”

“He saved and given great actors,” a comment read.

An individual shared, “Man what an amazing performance by Rajpal Yadav in Shool. Never realized that was his first role in the industry.”

One more added, “For 15 years Nawaz kept dreaming and trying to achieve that dream.”

Following Shool, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Anurag Kashyap, also worked together in films like Black Friday, Haddi, Dev D and Bombay Talkies, among others.