Nawazuddin to publish memoir on his journey from a small village to Bollywood stardom

Mumbai: His is one of the best rags-to-riches story and now actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui plans to publish a memoir that will chronicle his journey from a small village to Bollywood stardom.

"I will try to be as honest as I can in the book but there will be a little fiction too. The main focus will be on my village from where I came out and established myself. All the ups and downs will be there," Siddiqui said about the upcoming book, which is being written by a former journalist.

He has back-to-back releases but the actor hopes the book will be out by next year.

Siddiqui, known for his powerful performances in films like 'Gangs of Wasseypur', 'Badlapur', 'Manjhi' and 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan', left his village in Muzaffarnagar for Delhi to try his luck in theatre. He also worked as a watchman for a brief period before joining NSD.

The actor, 41, shifted to Mumbai in 2000 but success continued to elude him as he appeared in many blink-and-you-miss roles before finding a substantial part in Anurag Kashyap's 'Black Friday'.

However, it was his role of a revenge-seeking son in Kashyap's 'Wasseypur' that finally helped Siddiqui arrive on the scene. "Playing a gangster in 'Wasseypur' was my most challenging role," said Siddiqui on the sidelines of Spring Fever 2016.

The actor is mostly known for his intense roles but he is looking forward to change that with his upcoming romantic drama. The yet-untitled film, directed by Sohail Khan, will see Siddiqui and the 'Singh is Bliing' actress Amy Jackson teaming up for the first time.

"It's a romantic film. I have just begun shooting for it. I have never done any love story. Since, I am doing it for the first time, I am excited about it. There will be romantic songs too but they will play in the background. We are yet to decide the film's title," he said.

The 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' actor, 41, said the film has finally given him the opportunity to romance, something that was not offered to him earlier.

"I never befriended a girl till my initial years in NSD. I tried a lot but I failed in it everytime, similar to my career. It was a huge culture shock for me to see girls smoking as I was from a conservative setup," the actor said.

Besides the romantic film, he has also finished shooting 'Te3N', with Amitabh Bachchan. "I am playing a priest in 'Te3N'," he said.

Siddiqui, who has worked with Salman, Aamir and Shah Rukh Khan, said Bachchan is one of the most professional actors he has worked with.

"Bachchan sahab is very professional on set. He comes with his line prepared. He also sits back and sees the end result unlike us, who go to the vanity to relax after giving a shot. Even Shah Rukh bhai is somewhat like him. But Salman bhai is different."

He was recently embroiled in a controversy when a lady accused him of assaulting her over parking issue and filed an FIR against him.

Siddiqui, however, claims that he was falsely implicated. "I have hired two bouncers after that incident. It was nothing of that sort as it was projected by that lady. She was shooting a video of mine and I just said 'What are you doing?'. But it was later presented in a different way. It had nothing to do with parking," he said.