Honoured to portray meaningful stories: Nawazuddin Siddiqui on his International Emmy nod

On Thursday, Siddiqui received a nod in the best actor category for his performance in the Sudhir Mishra-directed feature film. 

''Working with Sudhir and playing the role of Ayyan Mani in 'Serious Men' was a dream come true for me and the International Emmy nomination is validation of all the hard work we poured into the film. I feel honoured to portray meaningful stories that are being recognised globally - which is now a reality thanks to platforms like Netflix,'' the 47-year-old actor said in a statement. 

In the best actor segment, Siddiqui is pitted against British star David Tennant (''Des'') as well as actors Roy Nik of Israel (''Normali'') and Christian Tappan of Colombia (''El Robo del Siglo'' or ''The Great Heist''). 

''Serious Men'' is an adaptation of author Manu Joseph's 2010 novel of the same name. It chronicles the story of an ambitious underachiever who capitalises on his son's newfound fame as a boy-genius to improve his family's fortunes. Vir Das' comedy special ''Vir Das: For India'' for the streamer also received a nomination in the comedy segment along with popular French show ''Call My Agent'', UK's ''Motherland: Christmas Special'' and Colombia series ''Promesas de Campana''. 

The special, which was Das' third with Netflix, released in January 2020. 

Das said he is ''super happy'' for receiving the nomination. 

''Now that I'm done eating every kind of carbohydrate to celebrate, I am super happy about this nomination, thank you - International Emmy Awards. Every talent across the world wants to feel like their perspective is seen. A nomination does that. ''Thank you to all the crew of 'Vir Das: For India' and team Netflix for all their hard work to put this together. I'm just so happy as it is a show about my culture, my people and how funny we are. The special was my love letter to India and this is just unbelievable,'' he said. 

Celebrating the nominations, Monika Shergill, VP Content, Netflix, said, ''This recognition celebrates the brilliance of the creative community in India, and the diverse and entertaining stories that we at Netflix continue to make in India, for India and the world.'' She also congratulated Siddiqui for his brilliant portrayal of Ayyan Mani in Sudhir Mishra and Bombay Fables’ film and Das and his company Weirdass Comedy for their stand-up special. The winners for 2021 International Emmy Awards will be announced during an in-person ceremony, to be held in New York City on November 22. 

Last year, Netflix's critically-acclaimed series ''Delhi Crime'' had won the best drama series honour at the International Emmy Awards.