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A spin-off comes with pressure of matching up to the success of the original. But not for Manoj Bajpayee and Naam Shabana. In fact, the actor is happy that producer Neeraj Pandey gave him a chance to explore the world of spies through his film.
“Spin-off idea is very unique, and it’s happening for the first time in our film industry that you pick a character and explore or investigate its background. I am thankful to Neeraj Pandey for getting all of this together. Being in this film, I understood how a spy works. I watched Baby, which helped me a lot to get into the character. It is a whole new world which is completely unknown to the audience and even I did not know about it. As filmmaker, Neeraj has been able to explore it really well and has gone very deep with the research that was required to put this all on screen.”
Talking about what he learnt about his character as a spy, he gave us an important tip about being an agent. He said, “You can’t be a spy if you can’t defend yourself. You have to learn that and wait for agencies to spot you. Spies are in disguise all the time. They are around you.”
Manoj plays the character of an intelligence chief who is responsible for making a spy. He is someone who keeps a tab on people who have the potential to be a spy. “They are toughest, sharp and completely unemotional,” says the actor.
While everything is going quite positive in his life, the 47-year-old actor is also quite pissed with CBFC’s behaviour toward certain films. “You have to understand that the way CBFC works in our country is completely opposite to democracy. You cannot ban a film or even a book. You can’t tell the filmmakers to remake a film and come back. There should be a certification board which would certify what age group should be allowed to watch a certain film and for this, it is the theatre or multiplexes association which should be held responsible. Where does censor board come in between?” questions the Kriti actor.
He also agrees to the fact that the way people are reacting to Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati, despite having no knowledge of the film, is extremely dangerous. “This is a dangerous situation for film industry because anybody from any place can raise an objection just on speculation. I’m from the industry, I haven’t read the script. I’m sure even people who are working with the director have no idea about the development of the story. Even if you have got an idea of the story, there’s a way to put your thoughts in front. You can’t assault people or destroy their property. If this is what people want to do and the government has no control over it, please tell us what to do. Should we just stop making films? Because it seems like any Tom Dick and Harry can harm us if he or she has a problem with stories which are completely false or speculation based. There’s no end to it.”
Also read | I’ve made a career out of flop films: Manoj Bajpayee
The year of 2016 was quite fruitful for Manoj, with many films being critically acclaimed. He also received Best Actor award for his portrayal in Aligarh. Even 2017 seems really positive for the actor, “I have few films lined up. After Naam Shabana, I have Sarkar 3, Missing, Rukh, Love Sonia might release. Let’s see what happens.” In Sarkar 3, the actor plays a negative character and we are totally looking forward to his performance on screen.
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