Mairaj fed up of being twinned with Siddiqui

Actor downplayed the similarities between himself and his Indian counterpart

At some point, any actor in showbiz is at risk of coming across their doppelganger. The casual doomscroller will, for example, be aware that Hollywood actor Isla Fisher and Amy Adams are playfully paired up as twins. Closer to home, Josh: Independence Through Unity actor Saleem Mairaj has discovered over the years that he, too has his own so-called identical twin actor across the border: Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

On a recent appearance on Gup Shab, the actor once more reminded of the similarities between himself and his Indian counterpart when a viewer brought up the subject yet and asked, "Do you find it a compliment or an unnecessary comparison?"

No one was left in the dark for too long before Mairaj whipped out his answer. "I think I have been asked this more than 200 times," he noted wearily. "And I have to tell you, I just don't get it. I don't see the resemblance, and I don't understand the comparison."

Mairaj went on to relate an amusing anecdote of precisely such a comparison when a couple of women he did not know mistook him for the Indian actor. "There I was at the passport office, and these two women were in the line near me," he began, and continued in his deadpan manner, "They had just watched Bajrangi Bhaijaan. Anyway, one of them looks at me and says to the other, 'Look! There's that man from the film we saw last night!'"

In mock indignation, Saleem added, "They did not recognise Saleem Mairaj standing right in front of them, but they definitely thought they saw Nawazuddin Siddiqui!"

Whether or not Saleem sees it, the physical resemblance between the two actors, both skilled in their own right, is undeniable. Siddiqui has built a name for himself in Indian cinema after rising to prominence as a short-tempered intelligence officer in the Bollywood epic Gangs of Wasseypur in 2012. He was most recently seen in Tiku Weds Sheru.

Mairaj, meanwhile, began his career as a theatre actor before transitioning to television in the nineties. After appearing in a string of dramas, he made his film debut in 2007 with Zibahkhana. Mairaj nabbed a cameo appearance in director Nabeel Qureshi's 2014 comedy Na Maloom Afraad and its sequel Na Maloom Afraad 2 (2017). The actor completed his hat trick cameo appearance in the franchise with a small role in Na Baligh Afraad (2024).