Manoj Bajpayee talks with Subhash K Jha about playing the negative character in Ram Gopal Varma-Rajat Mukherjee’s Road in this chat about the making of the drama that released in 2002.
How do you recall the experience of working in Road?
One of the best shooting experiences as Rajat Mukherjee was a very dear friend of mine and he was at the helm of the affair and he was directing the film. Also just for everybody’s knowledge, it was Sudeep Chatterjee, the great cameraman shooting Road. It was his first film and we all had lots of fun under Ram Gopal Varma’s guidance.
How much did Ramu intervene?
We were really shooting it on our own. Once or twice Ramu landed up just to check how it’s going. We also shot in outback of Adelaide, Australia. Then Jaisalmer, I have been missing Jaisalmer since then. Jaisalmer, I always found to be one of the most beautiful places in this country. But now people tell me that it’s all crowded, it’s become quite a tourist hub.
Fond memories of camaraderie in Jaisalmer?
Those were the days when the actors used to sit together, they used to share so much and there used to be so much camaraderie on the set. I just wish those days are back all over again. I miss Rajat Mukherjee as he is no more, there are too many memories of the shooting of the film. I also miss working with Antara Mali, such an amazing, intelligent, talented girl that she was. I just hope that, you know, she’s very, very happy wherever she is and also thank Ramu for giving us that kind of a freedom and the chance of making this film. It was bad luck, you know, that people, you know, somehow couldn’t notice that, that hard work of ours.
In Road you played a negative role?
I loved playing this role, which is that of a mentally deranged mafia guy. It is always a challenge to play negative roles. But to tell you the truth, there are a few sequences of mine on Road… I think those are among my best performances , according to whatever knowledge that I have about performances. So yes, if people can, they should really go ahead and watch, Road wherever they can find it.
