Having worked in the Hindi film industry for more than three decades, Manoj Bajpayee has given some memorable performances including films like Satya, Shool, Gangs Of Wasseypur, Aligarh, The Family Man and many more. After shooting continuously for various projects in the past few months, the actor decided to take a break.
“You completely get drained and feel tired. I decided it was enough. I took off for a month with my family for a vacation which was a welcome break. Acting is a tiring job. You have to play various characters who have their own emotions and I have always believed in giving my best to each of my roles, so it takes an emotional toll which takes a long time to come out of it. Also, the pandemic delayed various projects and since the time things have opened up, I have been trying to fulfill all my commitments by putting my comfort on the backseat,” he said.
Ask him if his hectic schedule is a point of concern for his family and the actor says, “I am the Family Man so my family doesn’t complain (laughs). Jokes apart, they are understanding and know my commitment towards my craft. I don’t take anything for granted, so when they need me, I am always there. Like I said, we took a nice vacation where I hardly took any calls and was almost cut off.”
Bajpayee, who has three National Film Awards to his credit. feels that the idea of stardom has changed, “We don’t make formulaic or pot boilers quite often anymore. I believe those were the norms of the day. Today, the leading man has to have a lot of shades including playing grey characters. It has taken many years and efforts of many writers, filmmakers and actors to define a hero in all-round way. The definition of the leading man has changed in the past few years.”
Hindi cinema has been under the radar since the beginning of the year with most of the big ticket films bombing at the box-office. There has been a North vs South debate as some regional films are performing better at the ticket counters in comparison to mainstream Hindi films. However the Aligarh actor said that this whole conversation is unnecessary, “This is a temporary phase in Hindi cinema and we will come out of it. I feel the whole argument is baseless. In fact, I am a person who likes to find positives from an situation and I am happy that this discussion has started because we are now coming to a conclusion that cinema belongs to everyone in India.”
Bajpayee opined that good content will always be appreciated. “A good film will always do well, Also, if you look not all film in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam or any other industries have worked. Dividing cinema according to the language is disheartening. Cinema does not belong to one region. Cinema belongs to everyone. When my films or series is appreciated across the country and the world, I feel as proud as any Malayalam or Kannada film does well,” he said.
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