New Delhi: Manoj Bajpayee is one the industry's most versatile actors today. From a small village in Bihar to the glamour in Mumbai, Bajapyee underwent an ardous journey of rejections, first at the National School of Drama, and then in Mumbai when there were no casting directors or an entire setup where actors could get proper work on a daily basis. Opening up about his journey in an interaction with Siddharth Kanan, Bajpayee shared that the only thing that saved him was his 'stubborness' or not letting anyone decide anything for him. Bajpayee also recalled a rather hearbreaking time of his life, during the shoot of 'Killer Soup', when his father passed away.
"Earlier, my stubborness and anger would offend my friends, but slowly I found a way to channelise it," Bajpayee told Kanan in an interview.
Then, recalling another episode from his life involving his bed-ridden ailing father, Manoj Bajpayee told Kanan that he finds everything 'easy' now, after many years of learning how to channelise energies now.
Saying that the way he dealt with the death of his 'mai, baoji'(parents), he would not have done it if the same had happened 10 years ago, thanks to the teachings by his spiritual teacher which has lef him to channelise his energy and evolve in a better way.
Revisiting a rather emotional moment from his life, Bajpyee recalled when his sister called him to tell him about his father’s condition during the shoot of Netflix series ‘The Killer Soup’.
"My father was very close to me. I just adored him. I was shooting for Killer Soup in Kerala. In my case, I was very lucky that I have many siblings. So, in my absence, they were taking care of him. My mother was there. Jab bhi break hota tha, main chala jata tha. Abhishek Chaubey( director of Killer Soup) mujhe jana deta tha. Main Kerala se fly karke ata tha Delhi. Mujhe dekh ke boht khush hote the. I used to look at him, the helpless man, humesha bol ke jata tha ki main jaa raha huin, shooting karke wapis aonga."(Abhishek Chaubey (the director of Killer Soup) allowed me to go. I would fly from Kerala to Delhi. He would be so happy to see me. I used to look at him, the helpless man, and always assure him that I'm going for shooting but will return soon)Bajpayee said.
"The most hearbreaking moment was, one day, my sister had called and said 'you know baoji has really completed his journey, even doctor is saying...but he is somewhere stuck in this world, abhi bhi mo maya mein inki aatma phasi hui hai, sirf apke sath hai unke sath aisa sambhand raha hai inka, aap bologe to ye body chodh denge…”(His soul is stuck in this material world, only you, who had that kind of relation with him, can tell him to leave his body, and that he wil do, if you say so), he added.
Recalling how he was about to go give a shot for ‘Killer Soup’, “Aur main apne father se phone pe keh raha tha, baoji aap jaaye, baoji ho gya, please go...and it was heartbreaking for me." Adding that despite it being tough, Bajpayee dealt with it, and the next day in the morning, his father passed away.
Bajpayee also called his father the most evolved person he ever met. Saying that in a time we talk about feminism and all, my father from a small village, never even raised his voice in front of my mother, who was quite an 'angry woman' who was also very independent.