Manoj Bajpayee reveals why he will never become a director, 'My acting career is flourishing so well. Why should I leave it?'

National Award recipient Manoj Bajpayee’s Secrets Of The Kohinoor has begun streaming from today on discovery+. He is seen as the narrator in the docu-series, which is created by Neeraj Pandey and helmed by Raghav Jairath. It chronicles the timeless story of the world famous diamond. The actor speaks exclusively to The Free Press Journal. Excerpts:

How much have you enjoyed anchoring?

I have been participating during my childhood days in elocutions, debates and have been active in poetry-prose recitation. All these aspects are helpful while acting because speech is one important part. There is no acting as such. I improvise my voice accordingly. With your narration you need to engage young and old everyone. They shouldn't feel as if we are trying to impart some kind of knowledge. He should be interested in the narration so that every single bit of the story gets deep down into his heart and mind. It is essential for you to maintain the interest amongst the audiences so that they remain glued to whatever they are watching and hearing.

Should a host be spontaneous to make necessary changes in the moment?

If you are not aware of its technicality then spontaneity is of no use.

Do you feel Secrets Of The Kohinoor should be shown to school children?

Ab schools mein kya dikhana? It is now on OTT. School officials can just put out a TV and stream it for their children as today is a technical world. I feel even kids need to watch all this. I will definitely show this to my daughter. I also made her watch Secrets Of Sinauli. Today, whatever kids watch is registered in their mind. All this wasn't there during our times.

Do you have any interest in direction?

My acting career is flourishing so well. Why should I leave it? Direction is a responsible job. Acting is our responsibility thus it’s good for me to perform different kinds of roles with varied directors. I feel it's better if I work in three films in a year rather than just working on one film yearly. I wanted to be an actor and I am one. There is no point in leaving it and going anywhere.

Do you feel stardom magic is missing now?

Change in time is evident. If a star wishes to have stardom that can’t be possible. The media has increased multifold. Every step of a star is known to the media. Earlier every moment of the stars was not seen by the media. There would be a secret about the star which is going missing in today's times. The actors also put stuff on the social media of every moment now which wasn’t there earlier .They do not wish to maintain any secrecy. Witnessing that kind of stardom is very difficult in the prevailing conditions.

There is a lull period in the Hindi film industry now. Do you agree?

I feel this is a temporary phase which will pass by. According to me it isn't a lull period. OTT has leased the lives of talented actors. Cinema would have not been able to make this kind of a life for the actors in totality. This is the best period of Hindustani films.

What are your upcoming projects?

Kanu Behl’s Despatch, Devashish Makhija’s Joram, Abhishek Chaubey’s Soup, Rahul V Chittella’s Gulmohar, Raam Reddy’s next. I have completed five films which are in post production. The writing for the next season of The Family Man is complete.