Learning Marathi was a challenge, says Nawazuddin Siddiqui

Mumbai: Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who is playing the role of a Maharashtrian in his upcoming film `Bombay Talkies`, says learning Marathi was a challenging task.

Nawazuddin, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, attended a workshop to get trained in the language, as he will be playing the role of a Marathi person for the first time onscreen. The character he will play is shown to be a resident of Lalbaug in central Mumbai, where mostly Maharashtrians live. "I have learned a new language. Approximately 40 per cent of my dialogues are in Marathi. I attended a special workshop to learn the language to be able to deliver my dialogues perfectly," Nawazuddin said in a statement here. "It was quite challenging, so I hope people appreciate the effort we have put into making this a special film," he said. Since the film will have a nation-wide release, director Dibakar Banerjee has decided to add subtitles with all the dialogues in Marathi. "There are many instances in the film where Nawaz`s character speaks in Marathi, so all those lines will have subtitles in English for those people who do not understand the regional language," Dibakar said. The film `Bombay Talkies` is a celebration of 100 years of cinema. With four directors -Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Karan Johar and Dibakar, directing four different short films, showing the influence of cinema on common man. The film will release on May 3. PTI