On Tuesday, May 17, Nawazuddin Siddiqui walked the red carpet on the opening day of the ongoing 75th International Cannes Film Festival as part of the Indian delegation, along with R. Madhavan, Shekhar Kapur, Prasoon Joshi, and others, led by the Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur. India is the official Country of Honour at the Marche' Du Film (The Film Market) held alongside the annual fest.
Now, in a recent interview, Nawazuddin has indirectly taken a dig at the box office collections of recent blockbusters like The Kashmir Files, RRR, and KGF Chapter 2 as he has said that only good films are discussed at Cannes and nobody talks about the box office collection.
Speaking to Hindustan Times, the Sacred Games actor said, "I had never thought before that I will go to Cannes one day when I had started off. It’s the mecca of cinema, wahan chaaron taraf ache cinema ki baat hoti hai, box office collection ki baat nahi hoti. Hum jo collection ki baatein kar kar ke cinema dekh rahe hain na aaj kal? Wahaan uski baat nahi hoti (Good cinema is talked about at every corner there, nobody talks about box office collection. These days we are watching cinema by talking about collections, right? There, it is not discussed)".
The actor will celebrate his 48th birthday tomorrow, i.e. on Thursday, May 19. Talking about celebrating his birthdays at Cannes, Nawazuddin told the same portal, "I have spent five-six of my birthdays at Cannes as it’s been held around the same time every year. I am not a person who celebrates birthdays as such. It’s just like a normal day."
READ | Heropanti 2, Kick, Badlapur: Films in which Nawazuddin Siddiqui aced negative roles
Meanwhile, on the work front, Nawazuddin was last seen portraying the negative role of Laila, a don waging a cyberwar against India in Heropanti 2 which starred Tiger Shroff and Tara Sutaria as the two main leads. The film was washed out at the box office due to the tsunami of KGF Chapter 2.
