Reports that actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui has headed to his home town in Budhana for Eid are only partially true.
Nawaz has indeed traveled to his native place in Uttar Pradesh. But not to celebrate Eid.
“Abhi iss waqt jab desh Corona crisis mein hai, toh kaun si celebrate karne ki baat hai(what is there to celebrate when the country is confronting the Corona crisis)? No, I am not in my home town to celebrate Eid. I am here to see my mother who is unwell,” Nawaz informs me.
The matriarch is very close to Nawaz’s heart. “Ma kisski jaan se pyari nahin hoti? I , of course, love my mother more than anyone else in the world. When I got to know she was ill I immediately made arrangements to travel to Budhana. There is no power on earth that could’ve pulled me out of quarantine otherwise.”
Nawaz who was quarantined in Mumbai for almost two months says he has no idea when he will return. “Who knows where this crisis is heading to? I am already separated from my wife and children. At least I’m close to my mother now.”
Nawaz’s wife left for her parents’ home in Jabalpur with their two children before the lockdown started on March 25.