We have asked this before, but is this the best version of Manoj Bajpayee yet? His ringed fingers trembled as the anxious, eldest son Arun Batra in Rahul V. Chittela’s family drama, Gulmohar (which got an OTT release in March). Two months later, he thumped a desk—as if stamping his mark of quality—after making a final argument as the lawyer PC Solanki in the power-packed legal thriller, Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai. The stark contrast between the roles doesn’t come as a surprise. Bajpayee has always been a man of range. After breaking out in 1998 as the rugged, hot-headed gangster Bhiku Mhatre in Ram Gopal Varma’s Satya, he followed it up the next year with the role of a mousy, pestering visitor in the psychological thriller Kaun? It has been 30 years since Bajpayee’s debut in Bandit Queen (1994). Since then, there have been multiple laudable performances, commercial failures and struggles—both physical and mental—but the 52-year-old actor refuses to sit back and relax unless of course, a role demands it.
Here’s Manoj Bajpayee on the theatrical release of Bandaa…, his iconic roles over the years and some old stories, including conversations he had with a real-life dacoit on the sets of his first film.
Excerpts:
Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai might be the only film taking a reverse route of OTT to theatres. Was this always the plan?
To be honest, I wanted the film to be released in theatres, but it wasn’t an opinion shared by many. I had five to six meetings with producer Vinod Bhanushali and Zee Studios’ executives but they were clear that Bandaa… should go directly to ZEE5. They showed me data, surveys, and all that. But somewhere in the course of these meetings, they agreed that if it did well, they would consider a theatrical release. After it premiered on OTT, people flocked to social media to express anger that the film didn’t release in theatres. Due to this demand, I spoke to the people at ZEE5 and we decided to put the film on the big screen. There was, however, a problem. Multiplexes have a rule—which we were not aware of—that they would not screen a film which has already premiered on OTT. That is why we had to release Bandaa… in select single-screen theatres.
How will the film being available on OTT affect the theatrical footfalls?
If multiplexes had played this film, I’m confident that we would have seen packed houses. I have had people tell me that they have seen Bandaa… twice on OTT and that they are still willing to catch it in a theatre. I don’t think people will mind buying the tickets for the big-screen experience.
This is your 30th year in films. I am reminded of your start in Shekhar Kapur’s Bandit Queen, on the sets of which you met the dacoit Maan Singh, whose role you were essaying…
It was actually bizarre for me (laughs) that Maan Singh looked very different from the photographs I had seen in the book (India’s Bandit Queen: The True Story of Phoolan Devi by Mala Sen) on which the film was based. When he met us, he had just been released from jail and looked healthy in a khadi kurta pyjama. He and I even shared a room, and he was part of all the post-shoot get-togethers where we cooked, drank and talked. He told me about the time he and dacoit Phoolan Devi were on the run and how they came close to my village in Bihar’s West Champaran district, another area filled with dacoits. He said, “Manoj, we Chambal bandits had some principles, but the dacoits of your area were more gruesome and lived by no code.” We discussed the cultural differences between the daakus of Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. He told me that enmity among dacoits lasted for generations. I observed that he wasn’t happy after being released from prison. Whenever we travelled to the shooting spot, he had the habit of inspecting the road. “Once a bandit, always a bandit,” he said.
Five years after playing a dacoit, you essayed the role of the straight-arrow cop Samar Pratap Singh in Shool (1999). At the time, it seemed like this character rang true to your real-life personality…
No, not at all. I am nothing like Samar. He is young and takes his moral science lessons seriously. He wants to live his life by the principles he has been taught in the classroom. I always felt that Samar Pratap Singh was an idiot who didn’t understand that sometimes to achieve your goal, you have to take two steps backwards. I was more of a rebel. When I started out, I didn’t agree with the way the industry was functioning, how the heroes needed to have a certain look and how the villains and character actors were being treated. It made me angry, but I quickly realized my rage was coming in the way of achieving my goals and decided to work on it. I am and was smarter than Samar.
In Aks (2001), you played a psychopathic killer Raghavan who, in his introductory shot, unmasks himself. In a scene, where you are being interrogated by Amitabh Bachchan’s righteous cop, you speak of society and rules, and how without it, everybody would become evil. This is eerily similar to the interrogation scene between Batman and The Joker in The Dark Knight, a film that was released in 2008…
I am so happy you mentioned this. My friends and I always discuss how we were the first ones to come up with a character similar to The Joker. If we had said this, people might have called us pompous. It took me six to seven months to craft the character of Raghavan. I had the task of embodying absolute evil. The dialogues given to me were in English, so I improvised with the Hindi dialogues. I approached the character with flamboyance. I remember I was in Atlanta in the US when I was preparing for the character. I was sitting in a bar, and I saw these alcohol bottles that seemed so alluring from the outside, though they contained something that is toxic. I got it then. Evil needed to be attractive.
It seems like you tend to take method acting, sometimes, a little too far. It’s said that you almost got yourself killed while shooting for Gali Guleiyan (2017). What happened there?
I don’t think I can ever do anything similar to what I did for that role then. And yes, I did take it too far. When I read the script, I felt it wouldn’t work unles I pushed myself completely. I started living in the dilapidated house where the film was being shot. I refused to eat well and didn’t get enough rest. I went into a hole, mentally. I still remember, on the 28th day of the shoot, I told the director (Dipesh Jain) that I was hearing whistles in my ear. A doctor was called and prescribed anxiety medication. That’s when I got some sleep. Even after the shoot, I couldn’t take the character out of my system. I remember I went to the wrap-up party, had a few glasses of wine, came back home, and slept. I used to sleep a lot after I was done with Gali Guleiyan. That’s how I calmed down.
At this age, does such a role feel physically and mentally taxing?
It is, but I am unable to do chor bazaari (cheating) with the craft. I am passionate about acting. For Bandaa… I rehearsed the final courtroom scene about 150 times. Actually, I don’t like anything else apart from being on set and facing the camera.
You have stated in the past that your wife is your biggest critic. Has she seen your performance in Mrs Serial Killer?
She has.
And what did she think of it?
I won’t talk about it in the media (laughs). I work on all my films with the same intention of achieving excellence. I believe Shirish Kunder (the director) is an amazing filmmaker and I would like to work with him again if he gives me a good script. Sometimes things fall in place, and other times they don’t, that’s how it is.
Do you feel like that about your three decades in the industry?
I think in these 30 years, two things have worked in my favour. I am a believer, so I would say God has blessed me. Secondly, I think I have a lot of patience. I could go on and on, with the same amount of vigour and aggression, as I wait for my turn.
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