‘Sarfarosh’, ‘Munna Bhai M.B.B.S’, ‘Dev.D’: Five lesser-known cameos of Nawazuddin Siddiqui

Nawazuddin Siddiqui is one actor in Bollywood who moulds himself in any character effortlessly. He has made his way up the success ladder in Bollywood with his sheer hard work and performances. However, it did not come to him easily. The actor gained his spot at the top after years of struggles and rejections.

While today we associate him with films like, ‘The Lunchbox’, ‘Badlapur’, ‘Raees’, ‘Gangs Of Wasseypur’ and many others, not many know that he has been a part of films like, ‘Sarfarosh’, ‘Munna Bhai M.B.B.S’ and others where he played blink-and-miss cameos.

The Aamir Khan starrer marked Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s debut in Bollywood. Although not a lead role, the actor played a criminal in the custody of cops. In the movie, Aamir is seen meeting Nawaz inside the jail to gather some information regarding a raid he was involved in.

Interestingly, Nawazuddin and Aamir worked together yet again in ‘Talaash’ and it is then that Nawaz reminded Aamir of his appearance in ‘Sarfarosh’!

Manoj Bajpayee and Raveena Tandon received immense appreciation from the audience and the critics for their performance in ‘Shool’. Nawazuddin is featured in the film in a small role where he plays a waiter at an eatery where the lead actors come to eat. In the scene, Nawazuddin gets a bit confused as Manoj orders a very unusual dish that the former has never heard of.

If you are a fan of Rajkumar Hirani’s ‘Munna Bhai’ series, you couldn’t have missed this! In the first instalment of the movie, Nawazuddin plays a small-time pickpocket who is brought in as a patient in front of Sanjay Dutt’s parents in the film while he is pretending to be the doctor. When Nawaz’s character calls out Dutt’s character as being a goon and not a doctor, he gets thrashed by Munna’s gang.

Madhuri Dixit’s comeback movie, ‘Aaja Nachle’ also featured Nawazuddin Siddiqui in a small role. Nawazuddin is seen playing a slightly aged character who supports Madhuri’s efforts to revive the culture of dance in her hometown. Although the actor is never shown rehearsing for the play put up by Madhuri, he is seen playing a small part of a teacher who hits Majnu with a cane for writing the name of 'Laila' and 'Allah'.

Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Dev.D’ starred Abhay Deol, Kalki Koechlin, and Mahie Gill in the lead roles. The song, ‘Emotional Atyachaar’ in the movie gained popularity and it features none other than Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Dressed as a disco dancer from the 80s, the actor can be seen lip-syncing to the song.