Can't put labels on the characters I play: Nawazuddin Siddiqui By Radhika Sharma

New Delhi: He is known for his ability to morph into any character he plays on screen and actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui says he consciously takes up roles that cannot be stereotyped. The 43-year-old actor says categorising is a bad practice in Bollywood. He believes the hero is the most typecast character as he keeps rehashing the same character. In an interview with PTI, Nawaz says, "If one has to, at all, one should put the roles played by our heroes in boxes. Because, sadly, it is the hero who has been typecast... He keeps doing the same character again and again. Actors, like us, cannot be put in boxes."

Nawaz has an impressive list of performances to his credit in films such as "Gangs of Wasseypur" series, "Te3n", "The Lunchbox", "Talaash", "Badlapur" and "Bajrangi Bhaijaan". Most his roles veer towards negative to gray but the actor says irrespective of the genres, they are never one- shaded. "I like doing grey roles more... they have more depth, more complexity. I can't do these larger-than-life hero or villain-like characters because they don't interest me. I hate these two extremes in this world, as they don't have any shades in them. "Because I observe characters from real life, I know people have both good and bad characteristics in them. When you put both of them together, what you get is a complete human being."

Nawazuddin will next be seen in thriller-drama "Mom", featuring Sridevi in the lead role. He essays the role of Dayashankar Kapoor in the movie, releasing this Friday. "He is someone whom you would have come across in real life but would not have paid attention to. Such people appear normal but if they come in front of you, they possess a quality to take you in their confidence." After Ravi Udyawar's directorial debut, Nawazuddin has two more releases this year -- "Munna Micheal" and "Babumoshai Bandookbaaz".

The actor, who has been working round-the-clock for a long time, says he has no fear of overexposure and boring the audience with his constant presence on the celluloid as he has an unending stock to tap into. "I have done over 2,000 characters in theatre in seven years. I have a lot of 'masala' to show. I have this confidence, which allows me to try different roles in every film I do next. "The ones who get scared are those who feel they have nothing else left to show.

have a lot of characters stored in my bank," says Nawazuddin. He is rapidly gaining fans with each of his performances but the actor says he keeps travelling to his village to get a reality check and believes stardom will not be a roadblock for him. "If you go out and see, there are thousands of characters with their own story, uniqueness and behaviour. If you observe someone closely, you will get a lot of material from there. If you have shut yourself behind glass doors, then it will be a problem." "Mom" also features Akshaye Khanna and Pakistani actors Sajal Ali and Adnan Siddiqui.