I am not hungry for awards: Mukesh Tiwari

Awards matter little to Mukesh Tiwari of Jageera and Bachcha Yadav fame although he is yet to win a popular Bollywood award, five nominations in different categories notwithstanding.

"I have been nominated five times for the Filmfare Award but for some unknown reasons I failed to win the award even once," Tiwari told PTI.

He is not exactly hungry for any award or recognition, Tiwari, nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Performance in Negative Role for China Gate and for a Screen Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Gangaajal, says, "I am not after any award. Love and affection of the audience is the biggest award for me."

Admitting that the characters played by him in different movies are almost similar, the actor says, "Though each role performed by me are somewhat similar in nature but their souls are different."

On being asked why he is doing small roles, he says, "One scene is enough for a good actor to leave his mark in any film. To me, big roles are not required to showcase talent. Above all, you can't give good shots in every scene of a film."

"I am ready to do any kind of role if it is challenging," Tiwari says.

Tiwari, who started his career as a theater actor, is now romancing with television as he is playing an important role in a Bhojpuri serial Bahubali, being telecast on the newly launched Bhojpuri channel Mahua.

"TV is a good medium to reach people. The main difference between films and television soap operas is that the latter needs more dates as it is a constant process," says the actor.

"I enjoy working with Prakash Jha. An actor prospers if he or she gets a chance to work with him," says Tiwari when asked about Prakash Jha, one of his favorite directors.

"I started my journey in Bollywood with a Rajkumar Santoshi film. Then I worked with noted directors like J P Dutta, Prakash Jha and Ketan Mehta," says Tiwari, who played a key character 'Bachcha Yadav' in Gangaajal.

Speaking about the booming Bhojpuri film industry, he says, "Technically sound people have entered the Bhojpuri film industry which is a good sign. This is the main reason behind the recent popularity of Bhojpuri films, which caters to a target audience of over 20 crore people."

Tiwari wants fans not to undermine regional language films. "Don't undermine regional language films,as Bollywood's ten biggest films till date have been 'boli-based' (based on dialect). Take the example of films like Lagaan and Sholay."