One of the finest and most versatile gets completely lost inside a character actors, Manoj Bajpayee, who starred in such brilliant films like Satya, Bandit Queen, Gangs of Wasseypur, Gali Guleiyan, and the series The Family Man and so many more, talks with Subhash K Jha about birthday wishes, his range of roles and myriad films, and even a hint of what’s next.
Manoj, any unfulfilled wishes?
My directors locate me in Chandni Chowk or a village near Varanasi where they’ve probably never heard of Savile Row. There was a time when Neeraj Pandey, my director of Special 26, was producing a film that was to be shot in London. I cribbed to him that when he casts me, he takes me to the gullis and bylanes of Indian cities. But when he produces a film located in London, I’m not part of it. No one shoots with me in foreign locales wearing trendy chic clothes. I am hoping that would change soon.
Nowadays, you are very picky about your roles?
Actually, I am not that picky anymore. Each actor looks for roles that would satisfy that hunger within him. Earlier, I was the first and only choice for a certain kind of role. But now this industry has many actors like me, and if a filmmaker wants to make a big realistic film, he can go to Aamir Khan. There are so many options. Nowadays, when a good script is being written, it doesn’t necessarily mean he will sign Manoj Bajpayee. But if we go back in time, the contemporary hunger for neo-realistic cinema started with films like Bandit Queen and Satya. I was part of both. When Satya became a blockbuster, it gave a tremendous boost to realistic actors and films. Big stars began to change their marketing strategy just to be part of such films.
Do you feel you have evolved as an actor?
I think the Manoj Bajpayee of Gangs Of Wasseypur and The Family Man is very different from the actor in Satya. At the risk of sounding immodest, I’d say the graph I’ve created for myself in Wasseypur and the risk I took with my acting craft could’ve landed me flat on my face. But it worked. Thanks to my co-stars. I took Nawazuddin and all my co-stars into confidence. I sat them down and very honestly told them I was trying something that may backfire. Nawazuddin and Vineet Singh, who were sitting in my van, said, ‘Today you’re in a position where you can take this risk with your craft. We can’t.’ They nailed it. After thirty-one years of acting, I have no fear of falling or failing. I have seen it all, done it all. If not all, then most of it. I know myself as an actor in and out.
How do you answer the charge that the characters you played in Satya and Gangs Of Wasseypur glorify crime?
If the protagonist is a gangster, you have to play him honestly. It can’t be called glorification. But at the end he dies a dog’s death. People should take their lessons from that. Characters like the one I played in School and Sirf Ek Banda Kaafi Hai are remembered for a long. People remember my Bhiku Matre in Satya, but they also remember how he died. However, I enjoy portraying inspiring characters more than gangsters. Even actors who are so glorified in this country cannot be heroes. There are so many heroes in real life whom we must celebrate.
Everyone is waiting for Family Man Part 3?
It is almost ready, and it’s turned out better than the first two parts. Believe me, I know. I’ve seen some of it.
