In a career spanning over a decade, Nawazuddin Siddiqui has portrayed several kinds of roles onscreen –earnest characters to be precise. And such roles, in fact, are what the 44-year-old actor prefers doing as explained by him in an interview with a leading website. Characters with a certain amount of depth inspire Nawazuddin and he believes in playing roles that involve a perfect mix of good and bad.

“I believe in characters with shades of grey that are close to humanity. I am not interested in playing a Bollywood hero or a villain who is too positive or negative. I like playing real life characters that are a mix of good and bad nature. Such characters inspire me,” Nawazuddin told the website.

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During his interview, Nawazuddin also spoke about his opinion of principal characters in the film industry.

“For the past several years, the heroes in Hindi cinema, have been doing all good things and the villains have been playing devil like characters. Such characters don’t interest me. Characters that define human nature, appeal to me. And I am always in search of such characters,” he added.

Before starring in a principal character in 2011’s Kahaani, Nawazuddin appeared in minor roles in the films Sarfarosh, Munna Bhai M.B.B.S., Black Friday and Peepli Live. Kahaani, though, brought him under the spotlight as the actor appeared in important roles thereafter in the films Gangs of Wasseypur, Talaash, Badlapur, Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Mom. His role in the web series Sacred Games has also been applauded widely.

Nawazuddin’s upcoming releases include Genius, Manto and Thackeray.