Rapid Fire

MANOJ BAJPAI
Living with
Bhiku Mhatre!

Remember Bhiku Mhatre in Satya? Well, who doesn’t? After the fire’n’brimstone performance as the lovable don, Bajpai’s having a tough time putting Mhatre’s ghost to rest...

Your film Satya is slowly becoming a thing of the past. You can’t live on the glory of playing Bhiku Mhatre forever. So what’s your next move?
I know Satya is slowly becoming a chapter from history. I want it to become a part of my past as soon as possible. I don’t want the character of Bhiku Mhatre to cling to me like Gabbar Singh clinged to Amjad Khan. I am a natural actor, a born actor who would love to play as many roles as possible. I know I am in a very tricky situation. I am getting offers to play the hero. I am getting offers to play the villain and I am getting offers to play a variety of character roles. I don’t know what to do because all this is unexpected. I don’t want to be immodest and say I’m not too happy with the unexpected windfall. Which actor would not like to be in my shoes today? But these shoes are quite dicey, too, very slippery. I don’t want to fall wearing these shoes. I’m learning the basics of the game. My only promise is never to cheat in my career, not to grab, or manipulate. I want to do whatever I can on my own, on the strength of my talent. People say these principles don’t work here. I’m determined to make them work. My main goal is to be known as a good actor. I’ve had a reasonably good start. Now, I hope to build on it, with cement, soul, mortar, marble and brick all my own.

Your next film Kaun is all set for release. And people are already wondering if you have a role worth the mention at all in it?
The film, as its title indicates, is a mystery so we hope to keep everything under wraps till the film is released. I’d like to clarify that Kaun isn’t something like Ittefaq or a one night film. This is very different, you’ll know how different when it is released. You can judge my estimate of the film after the premiere, the night of the judgement.

How do you feel when people say you’re a Ram Gopal Varma protege, a camp favourite?
I feel very good. It’s a privilege to be associated with a great director like Ramu. I’m doing two more films with him and I hope to grow stronger with every role I do with him. I have a crowd of directors waiting for me to say yes, but I am being very selective. I don’t want to ruin my career before it’s even begun. I may look like a gullible man who’s easily fooled but am not. They feel a star who still rides in a rickshaw will fall for any temptation. This Manoj Bajpai has had to go through great ordeals to get thus far. He isn’t going to give up his principles for a fistful of rupees.