Manoj Bajpayee, noted Bollywood actor and two times National award winner, is known for getting into the skin of a character.
This weekend, he appears in Lingusamy’s Tamil film Anjaan.
“I don’t do films in the south owing to the language barrier. In Samar, it was a guest appearance. I took this up when director Lingusamy requested me to play this negative role. My character in Anjaan is this multi-billionaire guy.”
On Surya, Bajpayee says, “Despite his superstardom in the south, he is humble and is genuine. It was great working with him.”
Bajpayee is also working on the Hindi remake of Malayalam film Traffic, which won several awards, including the Kerala state award and was directed by Rajesh Pillai. Pillai is directing the Hindi version in which Bajpayee plays a police constable.
Variety of roles
Over his 21-year career, Bajpayee has explored a gamut of characters. Opening his career with a stupendous performance as dacoit Mann Singh in Bandit Queen, Bajpayee won two National awards, one for the unforgettable character of Bhiku Mhatre of Satya and the next for the soft-spoken Rashid of Pinjar. Sardar Khan, the cold-blooded gangster of Gangs of Wasseypur has not been forgotten either.
Still looking for roles that challenge him, Bajpayee says what gives him great joy is spending time with his family, especially his daughter.
Vidyut Jamwal, who played the bad guy in Billa 2 and Thupakki, said at the audio launch of Anjaan, held in Chennai: “I am not the baddie here. Surya and I are partners in crime.”
Asif Basra plays Surya’s friend in the story.
“My character is called ‘dadiwaala’, who is a die-hard alcoholic,” says Basra. “Lingusamy gave me as reference a film of Kamal Haasan, where he played a similar character sporting a beard.”
Lingusamy approached Basra after watching him in the Hindi film Kai Po Che!.
Discipline on sets
Praising the director and the team for their disciplined approach to work, Basra said: “I admire their passion towards their job. Surya is humility personified and very focused. Lingusamy would perform for me and I just copied him, immersing myself in it. He loved that and my role increased in turn,” adds Basra, who made the transition from stage to films and is a versatile actor.
He was last seen in Janaki Vishwanathan’s Yeh Hai Bakrapur as a fakir (an ascetic who lives on alms). For one who believes in living his characters, Basra was thrilled when an old lady mistook him for a real fakir and sought his blessings.
