Manoj Bajpayee: “All of us wanted to work across film industries in the country, and it’s happening now”

Throughout the years, with his numerous great and nuanced performances, actor Manoj Bajpayee has carved a space for himself in the industry and has left a great mark in the digital world, as well. As an actor, he has been medium agnostic from the word go. And like numerous actors today, he is excited about working in movies across different languages. Discussing it, Manoj says,  “This is a time that everyone had dreamt about, but no one had thought it would really happen. Nobody knew that one day the boundaries between industries will be completely blurred. All of us wanted to work across film industries in the country, and it’s happening now. Look at the movement – we have directors from different regional industries making their foray here. So many of our actors are trying to find their feet in other regional industries. This exchange is wonderful.”

He further adds, “There are so many projects now where people from multiple industries are working together. Today, actors like Vijay Sethupathi, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Priyamani and Fahadh Faasil have a following in the Hindi market, too. Our actors are also finding an audience in other regional markets. Looking at all this, I just hope that 2022 is as dramatic and exciting as last year.”

Manoj is among those couple of actors who pushed their game a bit higher when they went from season one of their successful web show to season two.  “It’s a challenge to maintain a character and its graph over 10 episodes of 30-40 minutes each. And to do that again means you have to not only revisit everything your character felt and experienced previously, but also use that well while adapting to new circumstances and situations in the next season. Do saal baad ussi character ko uthana aur naye mahaul mein adapt aur maintain karna requires a lot of work. You may look at us actors in these fancy clothes at events and think what a glamourous life we lead. Let me tell you, it’s tough out there. It’s a job we lovingly do, but it’s difficult, too. In a film, you can disconnect from a character in 50 days, but OTT makes you live a role way longer.”