Irrfan Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui are pitched against one another at every opportunity. Their rivalry came to the fore at an award function when, while thanking his team and co-stars for his performance in The Lunchbox, Nawaz didn’t mention Irrfan’s name.
Nawaz maintains, “I didn’t mention a lot of people by name. I just wanted to thank the entire team of The Lunchbox.” However, Nawaz did mention Nimrat Kaur, who he had hardly one scene with and not Irrfan, with whom he shared almost every frame in the film. Adds Nawaz, “There was no intention to ignore him. I’ve nothing against Irrfan. We like to keep to ourselves. We may not be the best of friends. But we’re certainly not enemies.”
However, when Irrfan was recently asked about his rivalry with Nawaz at a press conference, the actor walked out without answering the question. Irrfan refused to comment on the rivalry. “He doesn’t want to give Nawaz any publicity,” says a source close to the actor.
