New Delhi: The actor is geared up to play ACP Avinash once again in the second edition of Silence. He confesses his process has undergone a shift. “Once upon a time I focussed on what my character was, what they did. Now I try to understand the person”.
He reveals that The Family Man’s Srikant Tiwari is his favourite, “Playing Srikant is very therapeutic for me”. But there is another role he seeks to play is that of a paparazzi.
“I want to play a photojournalist. Am just fascinated and impressed by their conviction. Imagine this one person who is laboriously waiting to get that one image. After he gets it, he is sent on another assignment because some celebrity is arriving, and there is no one else”.
He further reveals that in Hollywood paparazzi were assigned to chase stars and it even had serious and some catastrophic consequences. “But in our country, we have to call the paps to go click a star, and it’s them to who bears the brunt of being in your face, when it is you who has called them. Many of the famous photographers were young when I started, and they are so respectful to me. I love these guys, and no I don’t call them, because they have figured out star departure and arrival schedules at airports”, says Manoj Bajpayee.
The actor who had earlier called out Bollywood’s obsession with numbers, says the current success of films like 12th Fail, and Lapaata Ladies has proved the audience wants stories to connect with.
“People want to hope when they go to the theatre, they want to see their stories of the common person winning. They need to identify with the person on screen and this is the content which will get people to theatres.”
He has a point, as action films with the larger than life hero, saving the world have failed to send cash registers ringing, it’s proven that content indeed is king, not the star.
