Ideas of India: 'I Love Acting The Way A 19-Year-Old Falls In Love For The First Time': Manoj Bajpayee
Manoj Bajpayee, the actor who has with a diverse portfolio of roles created a mark in the Hindi film industry sat down to talk about his journey in the second edition of ABP Network Ideas of India.
New Delhi: Manoj Bajpayee, the actor who has created a mark in the Hindi film industry with a diverse portfolio sat down to talk about his journey, from a small village in Bihar to being a star on OTT and his choice of difficult films like ‘Aligarh’, in the second edition of ABP Network Ideas of India. The session on 'Brilliance of Mind' was moderated by host Abhigyan Prakash.
Manoj Bajpayee shared how convenient and easy it has become in Naya India( modern India) to chase your dreams, ‘to run after them and touch them’.
The Early Years
‘The Family Man’ actor shared bits of his journey when he recalled how difficult it was at the time when he began. From taking two days to reach from his village to Patna to a time when he studied at the Delhi University. Mr Bajpayee recalled, “Jab main delhi university mein padta hai tab 6 bus badalni padti tab kisi library mein kahi jake dhundhni padti thi koi kitab… aur ab sab kuch aapke hath mein hai( when I studied at Delhi University, if we had to get a particular book, we had to change 6 buses to get to a particular library or person and now everything has changed.)”
How Easy It Is To Get Work In Bollywood Today
The veteran actor also threw light on how easy it was today in the film industry to get work. When the host talked about the culture in Bollywood where actors attend the right parties at the right time to get work, Manoj Bajpayee said, “The work I do can never have any influence of lobbyists or cliques. You have to 200% justice to each opportunity that you get.”
“Thinking that you will attend the right party, meet the right people and you will get work… you can't be dependent on anybody to live your dream, nobody will give you work. It is you and your work which will get you more work.” He added.
Manoj also spoke about how much he loves acting as a craft, mentioning that he does not do it to get a 'bangla or a Mercedes' but just for the sake of it. He even compared his love for acting to the way a young 19 year-old-boy falls in love for the first time.
Manoj Bajpayee also brought to light how OTT platforms post-pandemic have changed work for actors and consumption patterns of audiences for good.
Influence of OTT
Manoj Bajpayee spoke about how for a certain period of time when he travelled to the USA, ‘the ‘Narcos’ fever was at its peak. However, with the pandemic and the shifting of entertainment consumption patterns for audiences, the industry adapted and began to understand how to cater to the audience.
The ‘Satya’ actor said, “Pandemic gave an opportunity for ott…this challenged us, now audience also gets educated, they have demands on wanting to watch something aur ab film wale bhi samjh chuke hai ki darshak alag alag madhyam pe alag alag cheezen chahte hai( Now the film industry has also understood that the audience has demands and they want different material on different platforms).”
“Aaj writers, editors, actors busy hai, Manoj Bajpayee se zyada (today actors, editors and writers are more busy than me) I ' m so lucky that I am working at this time.”
"The talent today is only 22 -23 years old when he has two three projects, at that age we were doing theatre.. kyunki when we saw Bollywood hume sirf andhera dikhta hai ( because when we looked towards the industry in Bollywood, we only saw darkness).” He added.
Today, casting directors, actor are busy with auditions as they are called for them. Those not working are either giving auditions or attending workshops. There are numerous acting coaches and institutes which teach all aspects of cinema. It indeed is a blessing to be born in this time and work in this time.” Manoj Bajpayee shared at the ABP Ideas Of India summit.
On Yash Chopra
Manoj Bajpayee recalled a time when he was sitting next to Yash Chopra who was nervous about the release of SRK and Priety Zinta starrer iconic film ‘Veer-Zara’. He said, “Yash Chopra Veer Zara ko leke nervous the, to mujhe laga ( Yash Chopra was nervous about Veer Zara and I thought) he playing humble then he said, ‘If I knew the formula of a hit film, why would I make the series of flops I have’.
On Aligarh
Manoj Bajpayee also spoke about his film and character choice and elaborated on what went behind how Hansa Mehta’s ‘Aligarh’ got made.
“Hum bhi thode tede type pe actor rahe hai humne kabhi aisa film kiye nahi.( I also am a different kind of actor who has done a different tangent of films). So, what happened was that the casting director Mukesh Chhabra called me and told me about the Hansal Mehta film sharing that he had a great script but he was not willing to offer the film to him because he thought that Manoj might reject it.
So, Manoj Bajpayee called Hansal Mehta, abused him and asked him about the film. After listening to the story in ten lines, Manoj decided to do the film.
The actor also recalled that at the time a journalist had written a piece about actors who had played members from the LGBTQ community in their films saw an eventual end of their careers. Saying, ‘gyan batna bewakoofi hai, ( it is foolish to preach), he signed off by suggesting how far he had come.
Ideas Of India Is Back
ABP Network Ideas Of India Summit is back for its second edition. On February 24 and 25, eminent personalities from all walks of life will share their thoughts on pertinent topics and issues, ranging from climate catastrophe to India’s position as a new global power player.
This year's speakers will share their thoughts on what constitutes ‘Naya India’, and how our country, now the fifth-largest economy, can position itself as a developed nation by 2047, marking 100 years of independence.
This year, the ABP Network Ideas Of India summit — co-presented by Dabur Vedic Tea and co-powered by Dr Ortho, Gallant Advance, and Rajesh Masala (driven by Maruti Suzuki and with tech partner Panasonic) — will see notable speakers such as Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, Minister Of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss, lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar, musical artists Bickram Ghosh and Shubha Mudgal, authors Amitav Ghosh and Devdutt Pattanaik, actresses Sara Ali Khan, Yami Gautam, Asha Parekh and Zeenat Aman, actors Ayushmann Khurrana and Manoj Vajpayee, celebrity chef Vikas Khanna, sports stars Jwala Gupta and Vinesh Phogat, and many more.
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