Sanjay Mishra’s satirical comedy ‘Holy Cow’, which is directed by Sai Kabir and produced by Aaliya Siddiqui, released in August last year. Based on the story of a Muslim man whose cow goes missing, the film will now have its release on Amazon Prime Video on Wednesday (April 19). ‘Holy Cow’ also has a cameo by Aaliya’s estranged husband, actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui. In a chat with News18, she thanked him for making time for her film. “To play the part of a cop, we needed Nawaz and he knew that. He gave us his time and that’s how we cast him in the film,” she said. She further mentioned that the decision to cast actors was jointly taken by her and Sai.
“Every decision pertaining to the film was taken by the director and me. I loved the idea of the film. Sai Kabir has worked on many films. He did Revolver Rani (2014) with Kangana (Ranaut) and is doing a film with Nawaz now called Tiku Weds Sheru. The script [of Holy Cow] was very good. And we both decided on the cast,” she added.Why did she not cast Nawazuddin in the main role? When asked, Aaliya said, “This film didn’t require any star face. It needed strong performances by some very good actors. Sanjay Mishra ji has done an incredible job. Mukesh Bhatt, Sadiya Siddiqui and Tigmanshu Dhulia put in their heart and soul into the film,” says Aaliya. Having forayed into production, Aaliya now wants to work on her maiden directorial. She said, “I’ve shot for a film which I’ll be sending to Cannes (Film Festival) next year.” On a related note, Aaliya and Nawazuddin recently indulged in a public spat where she even accused him of raping her and trying to take custody of their children, Shora and Yaani. Following this, Nawazuddin filed a defamation lawsuit against her.