Nawazuddin Siddique, till recently ‘just an actor’, has suddenly turned into a star. So far he’s grounded but the trade feels that the success of Gangs Of Wasseypur might go to his head. Well, there’s one person in particular who’s putting his money on Siddique keeping his sights firmly focused on his work. And that’s Vikram Malhotra, COO of Viacom18 Motion Pictures who’s proud of his decision to back Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs Of Wasseypur 1 and 2. “On behalf of Viacom18, let me be blunt and say that we have managed to deliver a new superstar to India. We’ve not only backed Kashyap’s cult film GOW but also given one of the finest actors to the Indian audience. I have been keenly observing Nawazuddin and I’m sure he will not change. He only craves good cinema and his work.”

Till a few months ago, Malhotra lived with the criticism of backing Anurag Kashyap’s GOW 1 and 2. Not any more. “Why blame only the industry? Even my own people doubted my conviction to back this film. I had read every word of the script before I decided to back it and was fully convinced that these two parts would make history in filmmaking in India. I always knew it was a commercial film as 90 per cent of commercial cinema is about revenge, just like GOW. I am delighted with the success of both films and they have restored our faith in the kind of work we are doing. As we all know, commercial success is like icing on cake with critical acclaim, GOW 1 and 2 gave us both,” quips Malhotra.