Manoj Bajpayee: 'If Cinema Has To Evolve, Entire Focus Can't Be Just Box Office'

New Delhi: Manoj Bajpayee is often described as a living legend by his co-stars. An actor par excellence, the last few years have been nothing short of a Manoj Bajpayee resurrection across platforms. From films to web series, the actor has proved that he is a one-man show when it comes to playing quirky and challenging characters. From the son who was weighed down by the baggage of his emotional past in 'Gulmohar' to the lawyer who takes on a godman in 'Ek Bandaa Kaifi Hai' to the father trying to save his child in 'Joram' belonged to Manoj Bajpayee and the new year seems no different.

The actor takes on a double role in Netflix’s latest thriller the dark comedy 'Killer Soup'. The actor is confident the audience is going to love the wild ride on offer in Abhishek Chaubey’s directorial. “It is unique, and thrilling and if this one works it is bound to open the doors for dark comedy on OTT of which there is a dearth, apart from a few like an 'Andhadhun', 'Delhi Belly', 'Monica O’ My Darling' to name a few.”

His 'Satya' director Ram Gopal Verma had been quoted as saying that OTT was created for Manoj and he for the OTT. Playing the family man Srikanth Tiwari who leads a double life as a secret agent in the thriller 'The Family Man', was the beginning of his reign across streaming. Though grateful for opportunities on OTT, the actor says “I wish I could do more theatre viewing films back in the day, since mainstream media is very popular in our country. I have been part of cult path-breaking films, and to my luck and many others who like me wanted to experiment with their craft OTT happened and helped us understand the possibilities as an actor.”

Three decades in the industry the actor says his journey has been one of constant struggles. From a minor role in Shekhar Kapoor’s Bandit Queen (1982) to his breakaway role in Ram Gopal Verma’s 'Satya' (1994) which was followed by critically acclaimed performances in films such as Shool, Kaun, Rajneeti Gangs of Wasseypur, Aligarh, he may have proven his talent time and time again. But in an industry driven by the box office and star power, he is critical about how the box office is always seen as a denominator for success and content gets sidelined. "It's bothersome, annoying. I won’t stop anyone from making anything, I have always championed the cause of creativity. I may disagree but I always stand for the right of self-expression. But, we forget that if cinema has to evolve, it cannot evolve if your entire focus is the box office. It is for the producer and yes we want them to make money. As actors, our job is to make films we cannot be counting money and think just because our film has made a certain number, and everyone is writing about it thus coaxing the audience to watch it, we have done well. But, where is the filmmaking here?"

An interesting point, since the recent successes of films such as 'Animal', have made one ponder if box office returns are synonymous with good cinema. Are we only conditioning ourselves to watch a typical kind of cinema? Are we only keen to watch movies that can make Rs 600 crores to be in theatres?

The actor reveals his last film 'Joram' was released in theatres just to prove a point, well aware that there would not be many takers. "It was a symbol from our side. We released it on limited screens but just wanted to put out different content to gauge audience tastes”.

As an actor says his one wish is for the obsession with box office numbers to change and for more discussion on content and performances, “let us demand good stories from filmmakers and not 900 crores, it is impossible to make films like these.” We cannot be more in agreement with him on this.

'Killer Soup' premiers on Netflix from January 11.