Amitabh Bachchan Changed His Voice In Agneepath, People Rejected It: Makarand Deshpande

Makarand Deshpande, who recently made his Hollywood debut in 'Monkey Man' spoke about working in the industry, association with Aamir Khan & Shah Rukh Khan and the Indian viewing culture.

Makarand Deshpande, who recently made his Hollywood debut in 'Monkey Man' spoke about working in the industry, association with Aamir Khan & Shah Rukh Khan and the Indian viewing culture.

Source : IMDb

New Delhi: Makarand Deshpande, known for films like 'Sarfarosh', 'Swades', 'Makdee', is an actor, writer-director known for his work in Kannada, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil and Hindi films. The versatile theatre artist who recently made his Hollywood debut in Dev Patel's 'Monkey Man' spoke at length about working in the industry, association with Aamir Khan & Shah Rukh Khan and the Indian viewing culture.

Siddharth Kannan spoke in an interaction with Deshpande, about an  A-lister who does the same thing over and over again and it always works. Recalling a time when audiences would thring theatres to watch such stuff over and over again, Kannan compared today’s viewing scenario and asked, “Do you think auidences have become smarter and have they accepeted the true actor now…”

Makarand Deshpande on Manoj Bajpayee

To this Makarand Deshpande said, "Nahi mujhe lagta hai voh to rahega hi, because you see we are a worshipping country so hum apna ek image bana lete hai aur usi danche mein log pasand karte hai. When asked if this was true even today, Deshpande added,  Abhi bhi. Aaj bhi mujhe lagta hai ki actor agar Manoj Bajpayee Bhiku Matre ke usi rop mein aa jata hai to log usko aaj bho zyada pasand karenge, manoj mane na mane. Ek image hai jo apka register ho jata hai aur log apko usme pasand karte hai. Ysme apki galti nahi hai. Dekho hum entertainment ko boht hi zyada kuch samjhte hai, entertainment entertainment hai. Aap usko zyada seriously lete ho. Zindagi pechida ho sakti hai, clown act is a clown act.” (I think this will always be a case, you see, we are a country that idolizes its stars, and once we establish an image, people tend to stick to it. When asked if this still holds true today, Deshpande added, "Even now. I still believe that if an actor like Manoj Bajpayee were to reprise the role of Bhiku Mhatre, people would love him even more today, whether Manoj agrees or not. There's an image that gets ingrained in people's minds, and they continue to admire you within that framework. It's not your fault. Look, we perceive entertainment in many ways, and sometimes we take it too seriously. Life can be complicated, but a clown act remains just that—a clown act.")

Makarand Deshpande on Amitabh Bachchan, Robert De Niro

“The crisis is that the actor feels main apni image bar bar todta huin, abe tu nahi todta hai, maaf kijeyga de niro sab mujhe de niro hi nazar aate hai, ek kahani mein alag lagte hai. dhancha badal sakte hai, hum De Niro ko hi dekhne jaa rahe hai. jis din prosthetics se mujhe De Niro nahi dikha ya Irishman mein mujhe voh specially effects se dikha, i lose interest in de niro. I want to see De Niro present in every role. I want Naseeruddin Shah to shout. Amitabh Bachchan ne awaz badal di Agneepath mein, logo ne nakar dia, aur voh truth hai.” (The crisis is that the actor feels, "I keep breaking my own image," but you don't break it. Excuse me, forgive me, but all I see is De Niro. He seems different in every story. We can change the frame, but we are going to see De Niro. The day I don't see De Niro through prosthetics or special effects like in 'The Irishman,' I lose interest in De Niro. I want to see De Niro present in every role. I want Naseeruddin Shah to shout. Amitabh Bachchan changed his voice in 'Agneepath,' people rejected it, and that's the truth.)

Makarand Deshpande was last seen in the SS Rajamouli directorial ‘RRR’. Deshpande has also made his Hollywood debut in Dev Patel starrer ‘Monkey Man’.