Mumbai, Aug 19 (IANS): Director Ketan Mehta, who roped in versatile actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui to play the title role in "Manjhi - The Mountain Man", praises the actor saying he is "committed and very fascinating".

Set in 1960, "Manjhi - The Mountain Man" is based on the life of Dashrath Manjhi, who for over 22 years worked on carving out a path through a mountain using just a hammer and a chisel. He dug a roadway out of a mountain that separated his village in Bihar from the nearest hospital.

In the film, Nawazuddin plays Manjhi.

"Nawaz is a very good actor. I enjoyed working with him. He is a very committed and very fascinating actor. He has done a brilliant job in the film," Mehta said here Saturday during a press conference about the film.

Talking about how he signed the National Award-winning actor for the project, Mehta said: "I had seen some of his roles. Besides, his physical type also matched a lot with the character (of Dashrath Manjhi)."

"Nawaz read the script and he loved it a lot and he immediately gave his nod," he added.

"Manjhi - The Mountain Man" features Radhika Apte as Nawaz's wife. Besides, it also features filmmaker Tigmanshu Dhulia and actor Prashant Narayanan in key roles.