Manoj Bajpayee is spending his days calling younger directors, hoping to be part of their stories and begin a new chapter that makes him feel “alive”. The ‘Satya’ and ‘The Family Man’ actor says this habit is helping him build a filmography he can be proud of.
Manoj Bajpayee’s morning routine
Explaining his approach in an interview with News18, Manoj Bajpayee said, “That’s how I’m approaching my days. Every morning I wake up and make it a point to call at least one director. It’s not a bad practice. I’m more interested in building a glorious and fascinating filmography than doing a series of films, back-to-back, in a year. I want to feel proud of my body of work. That’s why I’m always on the lookout for directors, new and old.”
Making it easier for new filmmakers
According to the actor, this routine also gives aspiring filmmakers easier access to him. He said, “I call them and let them know that I’m available and that I’m excited with the prospect of working with them. Sometimes, the new ones can’t find a way to reach out to me. If they hear from me first, the process becomes so much easier for them.”
How the first move changed his career
Taking the first step is also how Manoj got films like ‘Raajneeti’, ‘Gangs Of Wasseypur’ and ‘Special 26’, which marked a major turn in his career. Recalling the period before them, he said, “Before these films, I saw some lows. The kind of work that I wanted to do wasn’t coming my way. All I was doing was refusing films and saying no to people. And the ones I said yes to, I wasn’t happy doing those films.”
The ‘A Wednesday ’ connection
Manoj then spoke about watching ‘A Wednesday’, which led to conversations with several filmmakers. “That’s when I watched A Wednesday. Neeraj (Pandey) and I had met after that, and we spoke about cinema at large. He told me how he makes his films. That’s all I remember from that chat. I also remember meeting Prakash (Jha) ji at around the same time. Anurag (Kashyap) and I were talking simultaneously. Those films started happening to me a year after those meetings,” he added.
More about Manoj Bajpayee
On the work front, Manoj Bajpayee was recently seen in the film ‘Gajab Raat’. The film was previously titled ‘Ghooskar Pandat’. However, after controversy over its title, the makers changed it.