Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who has lately become an actor to reckon with, is now on a firangi trip. Last week the papers were flooded with Nawaz’s PR overdrive claiming that he was being ‘paired opposite’ Nicole Kidman in Garth Davis’ Lion.

Some careful probing reveals a few very embarrassing facts about this sensational spot of casting (Kidman and Nawaz together does look like an unlikely combination).

A source close to the project reveals, “I don’t know why Nawaz has created the impression that he’s paired opposite Nicole Kidman. Nawaz doesn’t have one shot with her. He is in the film for sure. But he features in one episode, and Nicole in another. They don’t even come face-to-face in the film.”

Shedding further light on the project which begins shooting in Kolkata next week, the source reveals, “Lion is a true-life story based on Saroo Brierley’s auto-biographical account of his search for his family. The main character of Saroo is is played by Dev Patel and there is a child actor who plays the younger version of Dev Patel. They are in the film throughout. The other actors including Nawazuddin, Tannishtha Chatterjee and Nicole Kidman play characters who meet Dev on his journey.”