Manoj Bajpai

Who's afraid of failure?

There’s something about his performances, particularly in Satya and Shool, that grabs your attention. And makes you applaud. The remarkably restrained, yet power-packed performances have invited comparisons and comments. Some say he’s a formidable talent, others that he’s a legend in the making. Yet the modest, middle class man confesses he sure isn’t cowed down by the sheer weight of expectations...

I know money has its uses. But I don’t give a damn for the trappings of success. As long as my needs are met, and my family and I are comfortably off, I dream of nothing more. I come from a lower middle class family, and that’s the kind of lifestyle I really crave.

After the resounding success of Satya, Manoj Bajpai has almost overnight, hit the big time. His powerhouse performance as Bhiku Mhatre overshadowed almost everybody else in the film, and fetched him all the major awards, including the national award for best supporting actor. No one was surprised when he was flooded with several exciting offers and hailed as an actor with formidable talent. And living up to the sheer weight of expectations has been far from easy.

After Satya came Kaun and the more recent Shool but both the films failed to recreate the Satya magic at the turnstiles. Though Manoj won a fair amount of critical acclaim with his performances, they went largely unnoticed by the man on the streets. And the films failed to set cash registers ringing.

So where does Manoj find himself, post Kaun and Shool? And what went wrong with these films?

“Where Kaun was concerned,” answers Manoj, “right from the start, we’d targetted the film at a limited discerning audience. Being a small budget film, it not only recovered its costs, but also made a tidy profit. Shool was no flop either, and has been an average grosser, that has done exceptionally well in my home state, Bihar, and in the cities. No, it hasn’t done quite so well in Delhi and Rajasthan, though I don’t know why.”

Manoj claims there are some in the industry who find it difficult to ‘stomach’ his success, and who’re engaged in a smear campaign to embarrass him. “But I know the truth, as do the producers, directors and distributors, so I refuse to be worried by it all,” he says.

He even says more people recognise him on the streets, post-Shool, than after Satya. He reckons Shool has been his best performance, to date. “I am proud of Shool as I am of Kaun,” he claims.

In the wake of Shool people have begun to wonder why on earth Manoj has not done any ‘commercial’ films. All his films, so far, they feel, have been off-beat ones, though that is far from the truth. “When I sign films, I don’t care if it’s a commercial film or an off-beat one. I just go by the script. If it excites me, I’m in it. When I signed Ghaath, people wondered why I’d signed a film with a director like Akashdeep though he’d already made a flop film, Miss 420. But the script was mind-boggling, too good to resist. Today, I’m glad I took it on because it has turned out quite well. I’m not the sort who’s scared of failure, can’t afford to be. If I don’t take chances I can never dream of exploring my potential,” he explains.

Besides, Manoj has always maintained he’s keen to work with the likes of Subhash Ghai and Yash Chopra. He’s only waiting for the right offer and tempting script to come along, before he takes them on. “They know my capabilities, and if I ever get to work with them, you can be sure I’ll be able to break new ground as an actor. You can count on them to give me roles that do justice to my talent,” says Manoj.

The films he has on hand at the moment, may be ones with modest budgets. But Bajpai has no regrets, for he has challenging roles in all of them. Besides, if they do manage to come up trumps at the b-o, nobody would dare dub them as offbeat, any more.

Manoj has already won all the major awards every actor can hope to win. Has this made him a more responsible actor?

“The fact is, I don’t take awards at all seriously. Yes, they do give me a high, but it’s an all-too temporary feeling. They’re but memorable moments, nothing more. I can scarcely afford to rest on my laurels, neither can I let awards go to my head. That would only make me self-conscious, force me to try out new gimmicks that I don’t really care for,” replies Bajpai.

Manoj claims that after Satya, he turned down as many as 41 films, though the producers were willing to pay him astronomical prices. He picked up just six films, most of them small budget ones. So isn’t money important to him at all?

“I know money has its uses,” confesses Manoj. “But I am not greedy about it. I don’t wish to bite off more than I can chew. As long as my needs are met, and my family and I are comfortably off, I dream of nothing more. I come from a lower middle class family, and that’s the kind of lifestyle I really crave. I don’t give a damn for the trappings of success,” says Manoj.

In fact, it is his secretary, Bhaskar Shetty, who compelled him into buying a car. Till then, he was content to commute by rickshaws and taxis. It was Shetty who even got the car loan sanctioned, and completed the formalities. So Bajpai now travels in style, in a Honda City and his family back home has a jeep. And Bajpai isn’t the sort to hanker after more luxuries in life.

Recently, Manoj got his sister married. “It wasn’t a lavish wedding, but a decent one, all the same. That’s all she asked for, and these are the only creature comforts we’ve aspired for as a family,” says Bajpai. “My needs are limited, so I don’t need to accept bad roles merely to make a fast buck,” he adds.

So how did the 41 producers take the rejection, we ask him.

“They’ve become my sworn enemies,” Manoj smiles, “they did not take it at all kindly. Not that I don’t appreciate their keenness, I do. They’d worked hard on their scripts, and believed in them. I can understand how they feel. It’s only natural that they no longer have nice things to say about me. Indeed, some of their films may even do well at the b-o. But inspite of it all, I think I was right in turning down these offers, for they posed little challenges for me. After all, what’s a role if it isn’t challenging?

Among the films Manoj declined, were Deepa Mehta’s Water and Kundan Shah’s next.

“I wasn’t really turned on by the role offered to me in Water. Not that it was a bad role, or bad film, it’s just that it failed to excite me. Likewise I wasn’t happy about the script for the Kundan Shah movie, which is why I opted out of it,” he explains.

And among the select movies that have caught Manoj’s imagination and stirred the actor in him is one with Amitabh Bachchan - Rakesh Mehra’s next. So how has it been acting with the legend?

“Excellent, a dream come true,” he replies. “I have always been a great fan of Amitji’s. In fact, it is his Zanjeer that attracted me towards acting. Recently, when we shot for the film, we did not have any scenes together. Yet, he’d always hover around the sets when my scenes were being canned. Yes, he did give me a few tips, which, I reckon, are invaluable. And I’d remain on the sets long after my shots were over, just to watch the legend perform before the camera. It’s been an educating experience, I can assure you.”

Recently Ram Gopal Varma is said to have remarked that Manoj has been getting stylised in his performance. Does he agree?

Manoj gives us a look of incredulity, which says it all. “I don’t think he’d pass comments like that,” he mumbles. Then, after a moment’s thought, he adds, “If Ramu did, I respect his view. It’s quite possible that without quite being aware of it, I’ve faltered on that score. It’s a possibility I should guard against in future. Ramu has always been the first to commend me on a good performance, always the first to pat me on my back. If he can praise me, he also has the right to criticise me. I set great store by his opinion, and he’s the first man I’d run to for advice, should I need it. That’s the kind of rapport we share. So I guess I’d better study my performances now to understand what made him make such a comment? And guard against being predictable and stylised in future. So, thank you, Ramu!”

Alok Mathur