Actors don8217;t get money,stars do: Manoj Bajpayee

Thats better actually laughs for an actor. But,yes,lovable letch,as you said very rightly,our whole effort was to make him look lovable.

If I may explain this,there is this sequence in Gangs of Wasseypur where you see this Bengali maid,played by Reema Sen washing clothes at a hand pump,and you are just trying to be polite with her laughs8230;

Laughs Ya,the whole thing was to make people laugh,so that they love him and not to make the audience detest him.

Thats why I said lovable rogue…

Thats the best compliment. That was my effort,because he is the protagonist. He is not conventional,but hes the guy whos vowed to take revenge and is at the centre of the story.

Hes the bad guy who starts the blood feud by stealing. Rather,his father starts it8230;

But his father was a nicer person,he fought for the right thing,but when he fights for anything,there is really no logic to it. Sometimes,hes leching at this Bengali maid,at the same time,he goes out to kill guys who are molesting a girl in the colony. His mind is warped.

Right.

When hes going to do what,is something which is completely illogical. Hes a kind of guy who exists in our society. Not everybody who thinks of revenge is Amitabh Bachchan. This guy is completely opposite of everything that a hero is defined by.

You got me interested when you said that everybody who is trying to take revenge is not Amitabh Bachchan. It8217;s a point that is often made. Amitabh Bachchan is always Amitabh Bachchan in whatever role he plays. But in the new cinema,say in your case,you are Bhikhu Mhatre of Satya,1998,or you are Sardar Khan Gangs of Wasseypur or you are… Special 26…Ive not seen the film.

Wasim Khan.

So,people remember Wasim Khan,they dont remember Manoj Bajpayee. Theres a difference?

Shrugs One thing has been very clear to me,I didnt have any other choice but to be the character. Since my childhood I realised that I dont have the charisma of Mr Bachchan smiles.

Nobody does…

I cant just stand there,in front of the camera,and make thousands go mad.

Or like Rajesh Khanna,repeat the same mannerism in every role.

But they were doing something different. What I realised is that I am not somebody who people look at. I still remember Shah Rukh Khan,he was in Barry Johns theatre group.

Are you contemporaries?

He was in Kirori Mal college,I was in Ramjas college in Delhi. We were with Barry at the same time. He was there for one-and-a-half or two years,I stayed with Barry for a long time. But what I have realised is that you dont have to really work on being a star,you are either born with it or you are not.

He had star quality.

He was noticed. And here was I,even though sometimes I was in front,I had to make an effort to be noticed.

Did you know each other then? Did you bring that acquaintanceship to Bombay?

Its not that we meet often,but yes,we know each other. But we were never the best of friends.

But you were quite a gang,a theatre gang in Delhi that came to Bombay.

That was a different gang altogether,from Mandi House Delhis theatre hub. Piyush Mishra and Saurabh Shukla,and though I didnt know Anurag Kashyap that well at that point,he and Imtiaz Ali and the entire cast of Bandit Queen 1994 shifted to Bombay. I still remember taking a room on rent,which Saurabh was sharing with me,and suddenly there were seven-eight of the Delhi theatrewallahs staying in that small room.

Bandit Queen was the break for all of you.

Yes. Shekhar Kapur found us. He got this film from Channel 4,in which he could take the risk of casting new talent.

A whole bunch of people who could look convincingly like dacoits.

Yeah,he wanted guys who could suit the part. During the shoot he said,guys,you have done enough of theatre. After this youll be married,youll have children,youll fall sick,and you dont have a penny. That scared the hell out of me and Saurabh.

And you got back and prepared for the IAS.

I dont know if you have heard of this teacher from Delhi University. He is one of the best teachers of modern history,Dilip Simeon.

Who doesnt know Dilip Simeon?

In his class,there used to be no seat for students from Ramjas College,because Stephanians and Hinduites would occupy them. Once,I came to the class and was looking to either stand or sit somewhere,and he said,Please give him a seat,he is the only one who has the clarity of what he will do in future!

So then you came to Bombay?

Right.

The late 80s to mid-90s was one of the worst periods of Bombay cinema. There was the mafia,there were killings and the cinema was rubbish.

All kinds of films were being made. I was not ready to be branded as one uncle or villain. For four years I didnt do anything. I got one episode in some TV series,and that was also a rarity. I got,say,Rs 800 bucks or Rs 1,000,just enough to survive for 10 or 15 days in this city. It was enough to break anybodys morale,humiliate any actor,so that he would go back,and I was contemplating it.

Then what happened?

Then a long series happened,Swaabhimaan,which was written by Shobhaa De,produced by Mahesh Bhatts company. They offered me this 12-episode role. A friend of mine said,just go ahead and do it,at least youll have some money in your pocket. They liked my work so much that I lasted for two-and-a-half years.

And that became a living.

And that became a living. I was not saving much,but yeah,Rs 20,000 a month was good money. That kind of gave me the strength to go out and look for the kind of work that I was looking for in cinema. And I kept on meeting people and Ram Gopal Varma happened to me.

How did Satya happen?

Satyas story is quite bizarre. Kannan Iyer,who directed Ek Thi Daayan,was Shekhar Kapurs associate in Bandit Queen. Ram Gopal Varma was making Daud 1997,and Kannan was one of the writers. He said,there are many small but important roles,why dont you guys me,Irrfan and many others come and meet Varma? You never know,if he likes you,you might get a big role in his next film. So we went,and Ramu started talking to me. When he came to know that I am Man Singh from Bandit Queen,he jumped up from his sofa.

And he remembered the character,not the man?

The character,not the man. And he said,you look too young. I have been looking for you since the time I have seen the film. Where were you? I said,sir,I am here,in this city. He said,but nobody could give me your number,your whereabouts. Dont do this role,I am going to make a film with you. And I thought,hes just faffing.

Pulling your leg8230;

So he said,you dont believe me,just do this role,youll be getting Rs 35,000. I said thats fine with me. But he was serious about me. He had this idea of making a film as strong as Bandit Queen,on the underworld. This whole drive came to him only after watching Bandit Queen. Because he felt,he actually told me8230;

He wished he had done it.

And he said,I want to make my Bandit Queen. He had this idea about the underworld. He said,get me writers,get me talent,I am not exposed to them,and thats how I got Anurag,Saurabh,all of these guys.

You are not a reluctant actor,but youve seen two periods of long absences,one after Bandit Queen and one after Satya. What happened?

Not after Satya. It was after Pinjar 2003,after my second National Award. I developed an alien bone in my shoulder. I could not move my arm.

Like a frozen shoulder?

It was like a frozen shoulder,but it was,as I said,an alien bone,which was obstructing movement. I could not work. I was scared of letting this news go public,because there would be much distortion.

This place can make you very insecure.

Definitely. Because news can be distorted or looked at from different perspectives,it can mar your career. You dont want it to be jeopardised when you love your profession so much.

So,two long gaps,Manoj,and now this wonderful year. 2012 was your year.

Yeah,2010,actually. Rajneeti gave me a boost.

Again,a really bad guy,but a convincing bad guy.

Mr Prakash Jha had given me two roles to choose from and I chose this one. Nobody has played Duryodhan till now,or nobody could think that I would want to give an interpretation of Duryodhan. He was not a bad guy. If he was bad,so was Arjun.

Whats next for you? Do you have frontiers left to conquer now? As a good guy?

I have done that in Zubeidaa 2001 and Shool 1999. Ive had my share of playing good guys

This is a changed Bombay,in terms of cinema. What new trends do you see now that multiplexes have narrowed the difference between the Rs 100-crore grossers and a Wasseypur?

Rs 100 crore in a population of 120 crore is nothing,we should be making Rs 1,000 crore profit. We have to look at creating as many theatres as possible. Because there are so many corners of this country,such a big population still depends on DVDs and pirated CDs.

I hope more money keeps coming,and keeps coming your way.

Laughs Ya,we need money. Actors dont get money,stars do.

And we need actors like you,who convince us in any role they play,because at the end of the day you want to remember the character much more than the actor. Manoj,thats what makes you unique and thats why we love you so much.

Thank you.

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