Siddharth Nigam has lived many lives before turning 25. The boy who somersaulted his way through national level gymnastics, slipped into the frame of Dhoom 3 with ease, carried fantasy and action on his shoulders as a teenager, is now in the middle of yet another shift — one that feels quieter and grounded in a deep awareness of where he comes from and what he stands for.
Born in Prayagraj and raised by a single mother who ran a small beauty parlour, Siddharth’s life didn’t begin with cameras and costumes. “We had nothing,” he recalls. “We lived in a room of an NGO. On birthdays, we would sell scraps and junk to cut a cake.” Gymnastics came before the glamour, teaching him discipline and the muscle memory of hard work — everything he considers the core of his journey.
That early discipline became the foundation. Acting too didn’t come from lineage or training. It arrived like a test he kept learning to pass. “I was not aware of acting, expressions, nothing. But every project taught me something. And I believe there is no age for learning,” he says. That openness explains why his career often looks like a set of expanding circles: Films, TV, OTT, music videos, singing, dancing and now a musical theatre production, Kaneez.
Siddharth remembers watching a play one day — a simple outing that became a turning point. “I saw the artistes perform and something changed internally,” he says. He realised he had tried everything — drama, action, romance — but theatre was a world he hadn’t explored. “I challenge myself to do the difficult things. That’s who I am.” So when director Randhir Ranjan Roy approached him for Kaneez, he considered it godsent. He reflects, “After watching plays, I had prayed to do one. Then this came my way.”
I’ve given each character a different graph, body language, and tried to create something new every timeSiddharth Nigam
Kaneez demanded a new kind of preparation: 10 hours of rehearsals, vocal training, emotional calibration and a deep dive into script and subtext. “I knew screen acting, but this is different,” Siddharth laughs. “I had to learn how to read lines, understand emotions, deliver every word in a way that audience could connect.” The intensity thrilled him. The exhaustion humbled him. “I’ve learnt so much. If someone asks me about acting, I’ve a lot to share now.”
His character — Shyam (in Kaneez) — he claims “is innocent but strong, a young priest whose heart refuses to surrender.” It’s a role built less on spectacle, more on stillness, something Siddharth calls “a visual and emotional journey, not just a character or a play.”
What has remained constant throughout his shifting mediums is his commitment to purpose. According to Siddharth, every character he chooses must have value. “The roles I’ve done — Aladdin, Ashoka and even Bikram (from Hai Junoon) — all have an emotion,” he shares. Reflecting on his evolution, he confesses, “I’ve given each character a different graph, body language, and tried to create something new every time.”
Today, what anchors him is the discipline implanted in childhood. Fame can make people lose perspective, but his foundation keeps him steady. “People forget their roots after a while,” he points out. “ But I have come from minus one.”
Even during packed schedules, Siddharth finds his center — through fitness, consistency and a commitment to self-improvement.
There are many leaps he is yet to take. He has just wrapped an OTT project he calls one of the most different he has ever done, with more on the way. He also describes this moment in his career as a shift — a conscious movement away from repetition and toward reinvention. “I took a break from television because I wanted to try new things,” he admits. “Now I’m getting good OTT projects. I’m looking forward and as for the rest? I leave everything to destiny.”
Kaneez is playing at Jamshed Bhabha Theatre, Mumbai on November 28 & 29.
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