Don’t expect me to romance a teenager: Manoj

Fresh from the success of Rajneeti and critical acclaim for Vedham, Manoj Bajpayee is all geared up for his next release, which happens to be a Telugu flick with Pawan Kalyan.
If anything, so far the year has been an indication that all izz well for the powerhouse performer. “When you have hits in your resume, it increases your career time. Rajneeti has given me a fresh lease of life.That’s the reality of our commercial set-up — you need to be among the hits or else you are a miss,” confesses the actor.
His lucky streak with films continued when the Telugu flick Vedham received critical acclaim. “Whenever anyone is making path-breaking cinema and trying to take the cinematic moment forward, I want to be in it. Krish moved away from the norm to make Vedham and I’m extremely proud of the film,” he says dismissing reports of not-so-favourable BO collections despite the acclaim.
However, Manoj’s next is a total potboiler. “All characters in my next film are either black or white. It’s a complete commercial potboiler and I didn’t mind doing it because Suriya is a dear friend. Plus the movie also boasts of names like AR Rahman and Pawan Kalyan who is a big star in the state. Even though I play a negative character, it’s great to do something like this once a while.”
But Manoj’s brush with realistic cinema continues as he is all set to play a part in Prakash Jha’s next, Aarakshan, based on the reservation drama. Gritty dramas are just what he thrives on. “There aren’t many film makers who make movies in this genre. Real and gritty stories today are widely accepted thanks to the increase in numbers of the multiplex audience. They understand and appreciate such cinema. Filmmakers dream of telling such stories and today the audience has made that possible. As for actors like me, I rather be seen in such cinema or don’t do anything at all,” he affirms.
His recent patch up with director Anurag Kashyap occupied media space and has paid off as both of them are teaming together for the film, Gangs of Wasseypur. Buzz suggests that the film is the director’s tribute to The Godfather. “It’s all rubbish. The film is nothing like that. People have also said that ‘Oh he plays a gangster again’. But the fact is being a gangster is what one does as a profession, but the person inside is different. And as an actor I know that I cannot repeat myself.”
Inspite of being in the film industry for a long time, Manoj has no hang ups or favourites as far as working with directors is concerned. And the younger lot sure gets a thumbs-up. “People like Anurag Basu, Dibakar Banerjee, Vikramaditya Motwane and others are the future of the industry. They are aggressive and have changed the way a film is narrated on screen. They have made hatke cinema mainstream.” And Manoj sure gets a kick from working with young blood. “I don’t want to be known as a fuddy-duddy who has hang-ups. Give me real stories and roles and I’m game. But don’t expect me to romance a 19-year-old,” he laughs.
But the year for the actor is not complete without the release of two other films — Dus Tola and Chittagong Uprising. The latter —in which he plays Suryia Sen —has been in news as director Ashutosh Gowarikar’s Khelen Jee Jaan Se with Abhishek and Deepika follows the same premise. Isn’t he afraid his movie might get a raw deal? “Not at all. The narrative in both films is different. In fact, I’m glad that two movies are being made on the subject as more people will get to know of Surya Sen.”
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