Nawazuddin was seen in a small role in Katrina Kaif and John Abraham's 2009 film 'New York'.? He played the role of Zilgai who was arrested as a suspect after the 9/11 terrorist attack and tortured while in custody.

Kabir Khan while recalling Nawazuddin's casting in the film, told Humans of Cinema that after watching 'New York', many people asked him “Ye case study aapko kaha mila (Where did you find this case study)”.

Khan added that people thought Nawaz was a real person and not an actor. He also said that casting directors were not as huge back then and his team of assistants used to take auditions. "In all my career, I have only seen one audition, and that happens to be Nawaz's," said Kabir.?

The 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' director?also recalled the day they shot Nawaz's monologue for the film and Nawaz went abroad for the first time to shoot a film. Kabir further added,?“It was a non-stop three-four minutes' take and I never took another take… because when I said cut, some of the people in the crew were crying and some of them were clapping. I remember Irrfan walking in half an hour later. He told me ‘everyone’s talking about Nawaz’s performance’. I took Irrfan to the monitor and I played it and as he was watching it, tears were streaming down Irrfan’s face. He asked ‘kaha hai yaar Nawaz (Where is Nawaz),’ went and hugged Nawaz. What a moment it was."

For the unversed, Irrfan and Nawazuddin worked together in 'The Lunchbox' and 'The Bypass'.?