Platform is none of my business, my job is to act and do justice to my character: Manoj Bajpayee

Manoj Bajpayee is one of those few actors who go that extra mile to achieve what the character demands, as he says, “to the point of madness” (of playing a character). And when he was offered something that he has not done in his 26-year-old career, he just put his heart and soul into it. The three time National award winning actor is now making foray into a whodunit thriller with his next outing on ZEE 5, Silence…Can You Hear It, co-starring Prachi Desai and Arjun Mathur. We’ll see him playing a cop investigating the mysterious disappearance of a woman in debutante director Aban Bharucha Deohans’s murder mystery.

“There are too many nuances that one has to work on and there are certain layers and subtext that you want to add from your own side. One has to also try to find the character because in a thriller of this kind if the character is multi-layered and is well researched and performed then it always makes the plot more interesting. It adds a whole lot of dimensions to the genre if the character is well etched out,” says Bajpayee.

He furthers, “This is one genre I’ve not done and the script is fantastic. I’ve worked with Kiran Deohans [producer], who was the cinematographer of Aks. His wife, Aban, has been wanting to direct a feature for a long time. I was always interested in the whodunit genre and it was coming from a friend of a long time so both the factors were very potent for me. The script is well written by Aban and she herself has been quite fascinated by this genre since the time I know her. Surprisingly, all the scripts that she had given me to read belonged to the same genre but I found this one much pacier, edgy, and it has a pace that is not like any other thriller. It is more about an investigation than anything else which is far more interesting.”

Bajpayee has transformed on screen for many of his roles like he did in Gali Guleiyan, Bhonsle – for which he recently won the National Award , Aligarh and even Amazon Prime’s The Family Man. But not many know that if the role demands he behaves in a certain way on the set. “At times people think I am too pally or too much fun but they are mistaken (laughs heartily) because sometimes I behave the way the character should behave just to hit the right note. Most of the time when I am talking and laughing with people on a different track I am also thinking about my next scene and how I am going to approach it. Most of the time people don’t get to realise it but that is the way I have trained myself, that is the way I have become. Now that is my second nature,” he reveals.

Since his character in Silence... demanded a lot of interaction with his co-stars, it was a bit challenging and it required a lot more involvement, says Bajpayee. “When one is leading the project from reading to rehearsals to getting the cast together and rehearsing with them on the set several times, trying to find that right sur and the right interpretation of the scene, it becomes a very tough job. It was never easy. Yes, I like to be involved because that really makes me feel alive and I do my stuff without caring about anything else. But at the same time I chill, I try to find those gaps where I just unwind, forget everything because I don’t want to get blackouts. I don’t want to get a moment where I stop thinking, stop imagining, stop performing. But if the role demands no interaction, I just sit in a corner and try not to disturb the pitch, or the mood of the character, or the scene,” he says.

The film marks the digital debut of Prachi Desai and it was an instant yes to the “crisp” script she says. Her character Sanjana works in tandem with Bajpayee’s ACP Avinash Verma. “I was really impressed with the director to have offered me this role. Conventionally you imagine that you would opt for a tall and a well-built girl who fits into the role of a cop but my director felt one should go beyond the physical attributes and that is something I too agree with. I am the only girl in the four member investigating team. The role demands that you have to be smart and sharp and at the same time at a young age my character is shown reaching that level in the job. She is so young but she is put on this complicated case just because she is so good at what she does. This is the first time that I am playing the role of a police officer, which made me a bit nervous but overall it was a memorable experience,” said Desai.

Prachi Desai in Manoj Bajpayee in Silence… Can You Hear It?

She furthers, “When Aban gave me a brief idea about the role I asked her if she was sure that I should portray this character because I am so used to hearing things that are so repetitive. The idea appeared fresh and off- the-hook. It will keep the audiences hooked with its contemporary treatment of a thriller. The script was like a book that you can’t keep down. It kept me on the edge of the seat. I kept wondering what next. And I loved the fact that a bunch of unconventional people would be coming together as they were cast for the first time. It is like a mixed bag of nuts, we are all varied personalities by the looks of it and every manner that you can imagine, and acting with Manoj Sir which was always my dream. Also, I am a sucker for thrillers and the novelty here is that this case has been handed over to this team and they have to crack it.”

Bajpayee, too, is a huge fan of the thriller genre. “I love so many thrillers; it is so difficult to name one or two and which one I liked the most. I loved Gone Girl for some reason, it was fabulous. I have liked all of the Sherlock Holmes series. There are so many great thrillers that British and American industries have produced and I have never missed a chance of watching them. Nothing can beat Alfred Hitchcock, he is the king of this genre. In India, we have had Jewel Thief and so many others,” says the actor.

In the last few months, during the pandemic, Bajpayee has had many releases -- both web series as well as films -- on the digital platform. When asked if OTT has helped him carve new paths, the actor argues that he has been doing fairly well even “without OTT”.

“The Family Man, and so many films of mine, both mainstream and independent, released before lockdown and some of them did pretty well. The Family Man was my digital debut and it has become one of the biggest OTT properties across all the OTT platforms in India. Just when OTT was the only and the most watched medium of entertainment, being appreciated and being part of a game changing movement is a great feeling. In my own way I have been contributing to my craft with my skill and that is much more than just being part of a successful project. For me, it is always about giving everything to the project you are doing barring the medium. My job is to act and do complete justice to it and after that if the makers decide to release in theatres, or on OTT, or satellite, it is their business, it is none of my business. I have to do complete justice to the vision of the director,” concludes Bajpayee.