Nawazuddin Siddiqui claims he is jealous of Rishab Shetty; the latter responds humbly

Mumbai (Maharashtra): Rishab Shetty is currently tasting the sweetness of success with his latest film Kantara. The movie reached massive success only through word-to-mouth marketing, flooding the theatres with fans who were eager to watch the highly praised drama. What shocked and attracted everyone was the fact that the film gained this massive success even after being made on a tiny budget of Rs 16 crore and with zero to no marketing. While several celebrities from the Indian film industry praised Rishab for this path-breaking film, actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui claims that he is jealous of the actor and filmmaker.

Rishab and Nawaz were at an event talking about films when the latter claimed that he is jealous of Rishab and that the filmmaker makes him want to work harder. “The entire country saw Rishab and is shocked. He did not promote it or anything, he slipped in quietly and broke all impressed one and all. If someone does good work, a sense of jealousy (crops in) and at the same time, the urge to compete inspires,” Nawaz said.

When a journalist pointed out that he used the word jealousy, Nawaz cleared that it is not the negative jealousy he is talking about but the type that inspires him to work harder. “Of course jealousy. It happens, because he is doing such good work. It is not that (negative) kind of jealousy but it makes you stand on your toes that even I have to work hard,” he said.

Responding to the appreciation, Rishab too showered praises on Nawaz and called him a big inspiration. “I have watched so many of Nawaz bhai’s movies and watched his journey filled with hard work and effort. He is like us, we are middle-class people with no background but we want to come into the industry and make it big. He is a very big inspiration. He has come from theatre and done so many small roles (before making it big). Even we have done such small roles in Kannada cinema before we got our big break. He is our senior, we have the same journey.”

Kantara is now just under Rs 400 crore in its global box office collection with Rs 397 crore. The film directed by Rishab Shetty stars him as the main lead. The story focuses on a tribal community of Karnataka that is protected by its deity god, Panjurli. It leads to a modern-day drama that focuses on the royal family that lent the tribe its land, the forest department that wants the tribe to follow forest rules and regulations and the tribe’s efforts at surviving peacefully. The film that was originally released in a single language, Kannada, had to be dubbed into different languages including Hindi and re-released in theatres after its massive demand.