Stars Are Going To Be There As Long As There's Cinema: Manoj Bajpayee

With films like Satya, Shool, Pinjar, Gangs of Wasseypur and Aligarh among others, Manoj Bajpayee’s filmography spans over a wide range of genres. The actor, who is a recipient of two National Film Awards, continues to wish for even better roles in the coming years.

“I just want to be a part of great films, great stories, and great scripts. I want to be directed by great newcomers. I just love this craft and I’m very passionate about it. I’m always excited about the idea of acting in front of the camera and that doesn’t change with genres," he says while speaking to News18.com.

The actor, who’ll next be seen in Atanu Mukherjee’s Rukh, shares that the film is an intriguing one.

“This script is unique in a way that it does not talk about the mushy-mushy things of a father-son relationship. It doesn’t portray a typical relationship but revolves around an accident wherein the father dies and then his son goes on a journey, on a search and all that he finds about his father then- it’s a beautiful storyline."

He also adds that the film isn’t just about a father-son relationship but also about other relationships including the ones shared by friends and husband-wife among others. The film stars Smita Tambe, Kumud Mishra and Adarsh Gourav in key roles besides Bajpayee.

On being asked about his unconventional choice of roles, Bajpayee says that it’s been a conscious decision for him to choose characters that “look like human beings, and not like actors coming from different planets."

“It’s been a very conscious decision since 21 years and since the time I’ve been given the opportunity to choose films. Because for me, there’s nothing called a dark role or a bright role, negative or positive– if the role in totality has all shades in it, then it draws me towards itself," he explains.

Bajpayee also shares that no one has ever referred to him as a character actor because he hasn’t restricted himself to only a particular genre of films. “I’ve never ever restricted myself to doing one kind of films, I’ve dealt with all genres and fortunately, I came out victorious doing that. I’ve been very lucky that way."

“Even if the films haven’t done well, people have appreciated my work. Now, nobody calls any actor with a tag name, the character actor era is gone. Actors are just actors," he adds.

A common belief relating to the new-age actors is that they seem more focused on getting their physical appearance right than in improving the craft per se and to this, Bajpayee says, “I wish they would. But nobody takes nobody’s advice. Nobody listens to nobody. If I give that advice to a good-looking young man, who has a great physique, he’ll just look down on me and say that look at your physique man, you aren’t blessed with my kind of thing. That’s why you focused on something else."

“Each and everyone has their own perception and their own way of achieving things but at the end of the day, it’ll be amazing if you’re a fantastic dancer, if you have a great look and you’re also a better actor- it’ll make you much more powerful."

The year 2017 has witnessed a trend of sorts wherein small/medium budget films are doing better at the box office than big banner productions featuring Bollywood biggies in key roles. Bajpayee, however, feels that one shouldn’t underestimate the star power only because they’ve had a few misses in the recent past.

“I’m very happy that small or medium budget films are doing well with lesser powerful faces but better or stronger actors. But as far as this year is concerned, only few films with bigger stars have failed. Like Akshay Kumar has been giving sure shot hits with all his films. It’s just a coincidence that few of the big stars’ films have failed."

“That is not a trend- stars are going to be there as long as cinema exists. Audiences, especially in our country, are always in search of stars who they can look up to. So if certain films haven’t done well, we can’t underestimate those stars," he says.

Bajpayee also sheds light on the re-emergence of the middle-class in Indian cinema and shares that it’s because the filmmakers are now emerging from different parts of the country and mainly from the middle-class milieu.

“All the directors, who are getting opportunities to make great stories now, are coming from outside and middle-class societies. They want to tell their stories, talk about their lives, their surroundings and culture – that’s why you see so many stories dealing with problems of middle-class."

For the ones who’ve seen how Bajpayee breathes life into his varied characters, it’d be hard to believe that he was rejected admission thrice in National School of Drama. But an optimist that he is, he continued his journey and decided to focus his efforts on bettering his craft.

“There are certain things in life which prepare you for your own betterment. The rejection for those many years- whether in theater or initial years in Mumbai- they really prepared me well. You start working on yourself, start looking into your shortcomings and you begin trying to plug the loopholes. It also makes you chase the gurus who can teach you the processes of acquiring the skill."

“If I look back, had those rejections not been happened, I wouldn’t have been motivated to really work on my craft or on my skill," he adds.

The actor also advises everyone to stop living in the past and begin focusing on the present and future instead. “If you really want to do something constructive, stop looking back and keep moving on. Focus on today’s work and look ahead- these are the only two elements which are left now," he says.