Padma Shri actor Manoj Bajpayee has defended his tweet in which he recently questioned the credibility of Indian film awards, and said that he was used to the fact that “all the films” of his which are “highly acclaimed don’t even get a place in the nominations list of the so called big mainstream awards”. The 49-year-old says that the tweet was not written out of anger, but was his way to show that he is committed to do good work.

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“It was an observation. This has been the case with so many films of mine, be it Shool (1999), Kaun (1999), Pinjar (2003), 1971 (2007), Budhiya Singh — Born to Run (2007)… the list goes on! Same is the case with Gali Guleiyan (2018). It was an observation from my side. Ignorance towards these films is baffling. It was not even a tweet written out of anger. It was my resolve to do good work,” says the actor, who has won two National Awards, one of them for Pinjar. “Awards, I have maintained, are always good for one’s exhilaration. You remember what are the good films. That’s my firm belief, that good work will remain, and awards will come and go. There’s nobody born in this world who can break me unless I decide to break myself, compromise and surrender ,” says the actor.

“I don’t think anybody is interested in breaking me, everybody is looking out for themselves. There is no conspiracy theory in my mind,” adds Manoj, who was recently seen in the film Sonchiriya, co-starring Sushant Singh Rajput and Bhumi Pednekar, which got good reviews, but failed at the box-office. However, box office results don’t affect Manoj. “Is it in my hand? I am just supposed to do my job well. I chose the right script and director. It felt good to be part of a humongously talented cast. It’s such a masterpiece that it gives me a kick,” he signs off.

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First Published: Mar 18, 2019 15:28 IST