One of the most revered actors of his generation, Manoj Bajpayee is a veteran with over 30 years of experience in films, having worked with several acclaimed directors in various critically and commercially successful movies in India across languages.
However, his latest, Despatch, where he plays Joy Bag, a crime reporter, has surpassed his previous work and the actor too admitted it’s one of the most challenging characters he has portrayed in recent years.
In an exclusive virtual Spotlight interview with Connected to India, Manoj, accompanied by Despatch’s director Kanu Behl, let his guard down, opening about his craft and the need to push himself.
The 55-year-old was all praise for Behl, who has directed films like Titli and Agra in the past. “Kanu Behl is an exciting filmmaker of this time, and I come from a different time all together,” Manoj says.
“I needed someone like him to really hold my hand and show me the direction, just when I was looking for someone who would really show me the path of going ahead from here,” he adds.
Manoj says that after years of work he needed to hone his skills and improve upon certain areas and Behl was the person to show him his path. “You know, you keep working, you keep immersing yourself role after role, but there comes a time when you feel that there are certain areas that you have to work upon. There are certain areas, if somebody can really help you, point it and really force me to improve upon… so, Kanu was the one. I’m so happy that we’ve collaborated on this one.”
He calls Despatch “a difficult film” and provides reasoning to validate his claim. “Kanu wanted me to go deeper and deeper into the darkest part of this protagonist to find something that is not even visible to you. In that regard, I consider it my hardest challenge in recent times and that makes Kanu a very tedious director. He doesn’t leave you halfway and he pushes you.”
“I’m happy he did that. It made me look at the areas which I’ve never bothered to look at,” Manoj adds.
Asked about his filmmaking philosophy, Behl says he considers the meta of the film to be his guiding light.
“My little lighthouse always as a filmmaker is the meta of the film. What is it that you’re really trying to say? You’re trying to say something and then you’re really trying to say something, which is the unsaid. So, you always go back to that,” he says.
“Every scene, with every shot, you’re just remind yourself of what is the meta. What am I really trying to say here? What are we all coming together and trying to find? That becomes the guiding light always. You always keep going back to that five to six-word phrase, which is the key of the film and you’re trying to unlock the film shot by shot for that meta,” Behl adds.
Despatch is streaming on Zee5 Global from December 13 and can be watched exclusively on the OTT platform.
Watch the Spotlight interview below.
