Claiming not to be bogged down by criticism, actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui has said he would play the role of Balasaheb Thackeray with as much intensity and passion as he did while acting as writer Saadat Hasan Manto in another upcoming film.

"My job is to act. So whatever character I get, I will play that with all my acuity. I will play the role of Balasaheb Thackeray with the same intensity that I had while playing Manto," Siddiqui said at a session at the Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet here on Wednesday."Your thinking or your political viewpoint can be different but because I am an actor, I will follow the process which I have acquired with my experience in acting, to play any role," he said.

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Nawazuddin is set to play the Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray in Director Abhijit Panse's upcoming film "Thackeray".While the teaser of the film has been largely appreciated, some people criticised the decision of choosing Nawazuddin in the role of the founder of the Hindu right-wing Marathi ethnocentric party.

Asked about his point of view about the recent intolerance over the content of films in the country, the actor said he sometimes feels scared at the present situation but claimed he would not let anyone deter him from following his passion for acting."Yes. I feel very much scared sometimes. I was never abused so much in social media before. Whenever I tweet, someone or the other has an opinion. The truth is we are becoming so narrow-minded nowadays that we are not ready to accept anything."

"Acting is our profession. It is also our passion. I chose something as my profession that I am also passionate about. So if people try to deter me from doing it (acting), I am not going to listen to them. I will do it," he added.