People ask why I act with women half my age: Adnan Siddiqui

Adnan Siddiqui launches production house to showcase fresh talent, braces for Bollywood debut

LAHORE: I want my first project to be big because I want to make an impact, says TV actor Adnan Siddiqui, who has almost two decades of acting experience under his belt. He is now determined to channel that into launching his own production banner, Cereal Entertainment Company. His debut project is a drama serial, Seeta Bagri—a serial on Hindu minorities, the Bagri clan.

The star-studded cast includes actors Bushra Ansari, Sarwat Gillani, Syed Jibran and Qavi Khan. Iqbal Hussain will pen the script for the serial. Talking further, Adnan shares that being on the other side of the table is a different ball game altogether. “I feel the problem is the monopoly of channels. They like dictating which actors they want which restricts talent and our hands are tied,” he shares. “I can see newcomers who are talented and interested but they don’t get a chance. It is all about ratings and these ratings prove to be the death of our shows.” This however, doesn’t drive him away from his true love: acting.



After his stint in the Hollywood production A Mighty Heart and playing a soldier in upcoming film Yalghaar, Adnan is ready to make his Bollywood debut with Mom. The actor will appear alongside Sri Devi in the film produced by the latter’s husband, Boney Kapoor. A source closely involved with the film shared that one third of the shooting is still left and the third spell will commence in India later this month.

Mom is touted as a “women-centric film” surrounding Sridevi’s character. Interestingly, this is not something new for Adnan, since he has mostly worked in similar types of TV serials in the past. When asked whether he feels he may not get roles where he can prove his mettle, Adnan states, “Even if our dramas are all about women’s problems, there is always a man behind them. People also ask why I act with women half my age or get married twice in my dramas. I tell them this is what the truth of our society is.” Adnan is also working on Project Ghazi by Nadir Shah — a sci-fi film starring Shehryar Munawar, Adnan Jaffar and Syra Yousaf.



While Adnan has been offered multiple films, only a few have managed to capture his attention. “The kind of films I was offered were the ones where the producers would become the hero of the film themselves — what would I do,” he quips. However, having worked in three different film industries, the actor feels each of them is different in its own way. “All three have different mechanics. Knowing that we are the youngest and the poorest industry, content and acting wise we are better than the Indians because even with minimised resources we are achieving great things.” He adds, “One cannot copy and win the game, one has to find their own style.”

Referring to the recently released Mah-e-Mir, Adnan even took to Facebook to sing praises for the film. He says, “Although I loved it, parallel films such as this one are more acceptable in India and not Pakistan because their audience is more educated. Parallel cinema should be explored when commercial cinema has become successful but unfortunately we are starting the other way around.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 26^th, 2016.

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