Actor Manoj Bajpayee, who is currently enjoying the love he has received for his recent projects, Secrets of Buddha Relics and Silence 2, is very excited about the release of Bhaiyyaji. The actor gets candid with The Pioneer for an exclusive chat, sharing his overwhelming feelings for documentary, his craft, and deets about his next release.
Tejal Sinha
A young boy from Belwa in the West Champaran district of Bihar, with a lot of aspirations to become an actor someday, relocated himself to Delhi at the tender age of seventeen and wanted to take admission in the National Ssschool of Drama, only to get rejected not once or twice, but three times. But the zeal to become an actor never went off, and he continued doing theater. And here he is today, one of the most accomplished actors we have in the industry, who has also been awarded India’s fourth-highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri, for his contributions to art!
Well, if you are still unaware, we are talking of Manoj Bajpayee, who also holds three national awards in his name. There has, of course, been something appealing about the actor and his work that one can never stop adoring, irrespective of his low profile.
Other things apart, the Gangs of Wasseypur actor is currently enjoying the responses and love he has been receiving for giving the voice to the documentary, The Secrets of the Buddha Relics, streaming on Discovery Plus! “A docu-series doing so well and becoming one of the top shows—something that’s not a fictional show—isn’t that amazing,” gleefully begins the star on a brighter note. The documentary by Friday Filmworks follows on the heels of the previous successful series, Secrets of Sinauli and Secrets of Kohinoor.
A ecstatic Manoj Bajpayee further continues his excitement: “It also shows that if a documentary is told in an interesting manner and with all the proper research, there is an audience ready for it to consume it. Having said that, there is a bright future for this segment and format, and the filmmakers of the documentary should really be excited about it. I was completely surprised. I must not lie. I never thought a docu-series would do so well like any other fictional series, a film, or an OTT platform and get so many eyeballs and so many views, and the responses are very encouraging.”
As we went on to discuss much in detail about Buddha Relics, he also discussed his take on Buddhism, saying, “I am not an expert on it; all I would say is that Buddhism is all about finding yourself, not attaching yourself to all the materialistic success and failures of life, and keeping moving and practicing spiritual exercises.”
Being a part of factual entertainment does come with more responsibility, like in Buddha Relics. And our guest for the day couldn’t agree much as he says, “It’s only filled with responsibility and nothing else.” Basically, “You are making it because you are interested in this form. But when you’re doing your research or the production work, all of it as a filmmaker or as a research team, everyone’s intention is to do it the right way and not make it half-baked. You bring all the information available for the audience, and it is they who decide which is the truth that they feel very close to.”
Lending a voice to a documentary series on historical events, and with seeing a lot of period dramas being produced in the industry, as a history student himself, there are many historical characters that the Family Man star would want to play. And so, “I would definitely wait upon one of those offers that has been much researched and worked upon in great detail. There’s no point in making period films just because they are being made. It becomes difficult for me to attach to it.”
He believes that being stubborn and patient is why he feels he has the roles he has played to date. With patience as the key, he shares, “There can be disappointment and failures, but doing your job day in and day out. I’m not focusing on the material side of it, the material gaze in this profession, but rather be involved with the craft and be in love with the craft.”
Having played different genres and characters, we wondered how he handles up with the toll that the characters could bring up on him, and he explains, “With age and experience, you learn to detach yourself. My biggest solution to it is to start working on your next one and not wait for the success or failure of the one just released. You have to keep moving on. You need to start focusing on your next one. And the next one somehow takes you away from it. All the dark experiences of the last character.”
He is a firm believer in: “What is the point of being an actor if you don’t look for complex characters and want to do linear characters?” That also means that I have endeavoured to take up work, which has been far more challenging than the usual ones. They help me grow as an actor. They help me immerse myself completely in the character. And get the truth of the character through the audience; without really immersing yourself or being fully involved, you can just not be with the complexities of those characters.” In this exclusive chat, he also reveals that he didn’t have any such ‘dream role’ but always wanted to play Hamlet and Devdas, but things didn’t fall well for him. But that didn’t affect him in any way, and he moved on further.
He is someone who likes to read a script like a reader, and if he finds it of great quality and something that he hasn’t done before, “When I say character, I mean it may be a policeman, which I have done in the past. But I am talking about the character of the police. If the character has a new sense, that attracts me. And the script is really of top quality. And if my instinct is to say, Go ahead, then it’s perfect.”
Again, as we went ahead in this chitter-chatter, we also spoke about him maintaining his low profile. “My low profile,” he laughs out really loud and says, “Low profile also means that I am not interested in the limelight. I am more interested in my work. And after that, I don’t want to be seen anywhere. Right now, I’m very excited about the promotion. Going to start in almost 2 weeks. For Bhaiyyaji! Releasing on May 24th.”
Now, on the work front, after immense appreciation for the docu-series and his recent Silence 2, he is all excited to begin the promotions of Bhaiyyaji, which is going to start in a few days. With the film releasing on May 24th, he goes on to share some exclusive details on the concluding note: “Bhaiyyaji is an action entertainer. This is the first action film for me. In my entire career. It’s a hard-core mainstream film. The story is rooted in our culture. You will see me in a character that you have not seen before. You will see a part of a film like this that has never been made before. In fact, this being my first action film, I was also injured because of all the actions. I always jokingly said, ‘Yaar yeh sab action jab mein apne 20s mein tha, 30s mein tha tab kisine nahi karaya, ab saare haddi todh rahe hai meri’ (Man, no one offered me these action roles when I was in my 20s and 30s; now everyone wants to break my bone.) So, I am very excited to present the trailer and also the anthem of the film. So that is keeping me quite busy. And Silence, too, is released. Focus would be on the promotion of Bhayyaji.”
