During an interview with Indian publication, actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui recalled his initial days in Bollywood and talked about how he was victim of racism.
The 47-year-old shared that it was Sudhir Mishra’s choice to cast Indira Tiwari as heroine in Serious Men, “Sudhir Mishra has a lot of knowledge about cinema and his thought process is practical. He did not take a conventional heroine for the film. I have to tell you that there is so much racism in our industry. I will be very happy if that girl (Indira Tiwari) is made a heroine once again.”
He continued, “Sudhir Mishra did make her a heroine in his film, but I will be happier if the big people in our film industry cast her as a heroine in their films. More than nepotism, there is racism in our industry, and I have been fighting it for years. I hope that brown actresses are also made heroines in films and it is necessary. I am not talking about black and white skin colors, but better films would be made if the biasness towards one particular skin color is over."
Siddiqui revealed, "Initially, I was rejected in films because of my short height and brown skin. I do not wish to talk about it today because God has given me more than I could ever ask for, many directors have given me more than I deserve. But I want to say that there are many artists out there who lose out on because of skin color.”