Manoj Bajpayee, who was conferred with the prestigious Padma Shri award recently, is also one of the nominees in the Best Actor category for his work in Gali Guleiyan at News 18 Reel Movie Awards.
He explains what keeps him motivated even after these many years. “The love for acting in itself is a very big motivation. When you decide to become an actor and go against all conventions in a society like us, it becomes a problematic area. There’s no guarantee and only insecurities, but the one thing which keeps us sailing is the admiration for craft.”
So, how do you deal with it? “I never try to hold my place, it’s all about the characters I am playing. It’s like a blinkered person thinking only about the final outcome. What others are doing has never been my priority rather I would focus on my strengths and weaknesses.”
He goes on, “I must confess one thing and this is not diplomatic at all. Dealing with the insecurities and demands of this industry is a tough work, so I keep working on myself. I am very polite but a good work environment is of utmost importance to me.”
“All said and done, the journey hasn’t been easy. To let people know that you mean business was quite difficult. To make them understand that I am here to fulfil my dreams and not their ideas of how Manoj Bajpayee should be. I was written off every third month. It’s quite miraculous that I survived (laughs),” adds Bajpayee.
He is aware of the expectations. “I realised how many hopes are pinned on me when I was given the Padma Shri. On social media and other places, people celebrated it like they have won it. My story was like the victory of a common person, people without resources. That was so humbling.”
He says, “Whenever I am nominated anywhere, they have prayed for me. I realised I can’t afford to be arrogant.”
He signs off with a message, “Reel Movies Awards team should continue with same passion and energy with which they started it. There are too many award shows happening anyway, so the ones which are really different will stand the test of time. Award functions should celebrate excellence and not the box office, there’re producers for that. Everytime you take the honours away from the right guy, you do injustice to many hardworking people.”
Interact with Rohit Vats at Twitter/@nawabjha
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