Book Review: An Ordinary Life- A Memoir by Nawazuddin Siddiqui & Rituparna Chatterjee

Book Review # 4

An Ordinary Life-A Memoir

Author- Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Rituparna Chatterjee.

Publisher- #Penguin Books

Genre- Biography,Autobiography

Pages- 224

Rating- 4.1/5 

From a Gangstar in Anurag Kashyap's Gangs of Wasseypur to a social reformer in Manjhi & a serial killer in Raman Raghav 2.0, Nawazuddin Siddiqui has always experimented with his characters and establised a milestone in the industry.I always wanted to know more about him and this book "An Ordinary Life- A Memoir" has finally quenched my thrist.
The 4 parts of this biography represents the 4 stages of his life and career.

Part-1 is all about his childhood memories in their ancestral home at Budhana, and how those memories helped him understand the mystries of life.

Part-2 comprises of his life as a youth at BNA(Bhartendu Natya Academi, Lacknow) and NSD (National School of Drama,Delhi).There are many unknown facts you will come to know about him in this section.

In Part-3 he recounts his struggling days at Mumbai.Once, his condition was so severe he had no money left to buy meals or even afford fares of local train.So, he used to walk for 15 km from Goregaon East to visit his friend's house at Yari Road, Andheri for a day's meal. Between 2005 and 2007, he was actually homeless.He used to sleep at one friend's house and have lunch at another friend's house. (I was in tears while reading this part)

In Part-4 He tells us how he finally started getting small roles and eventually got his first lead role in Anurag Kashyap's Gangs of Wasseypur. About his role in Raman Raghav 2.0 he says, " I pushed my boundaries to such extremes that I, who claim to not know fear, began to be afraid of myself".

Fun Fact- He did an item song for the movie "Dev D" titled "Emosanal Atyachar" in Elvis Presley's costume.


I have truly enjoyed this book.The language is simple and you will feel like he is talking directly to You. Highly recommend this book to those how dares to dream.Give it a try.
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Happy Reading