The Hindu : New Delhi News : No more projects with RGV, says Manoj

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Wednesday, Mar 07, 2007
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No more projects with RGV, says Manoj

Actor Manoj Bajpai

The very talented Manoj Bajpai, who despite having worked in a string of interesting projects and with A-list directors such as Yash Chopra and Shyam Benegal is still etched in public memory as Bhiku Mhatre of "Satya" fame, says he will never work with the director who gave him the finest role of his career so far.

Manoj's critically acclaimed and much-appreciated portrayal of an underworld gangster in "Satya" directed by Ram Gopal Varma catapulted him to fame and made him one of the most sought after actors in Bollywod back then.

Today he rules out any future projects with his one-time mentor Varma.

"There are some personality clashes. There are certain traits in both of us that do not match and there is total disagreement between us over a few issues. We cannot sort out those problems so the audiences will never see us together," declared a forthright Manoj who is now in the Capital to promote his latest film, "1971". The film, based on the Indian prisoners of war of 1971 languishing in Pakistani jails, marks his return to the silver screen after almost two years and Manoj is anything but perturbed.

"There are very few stories that appeal to me. I would rather sit at home than drag myself to a film set every day and then keep feeling miserable about having done a particular role. If I don't get a good script, I will not work," he asserts.

But Manoj has not been sitting idle all this while. He has been working on a few film projects that will soon hit the theatres. Apart from doing a role in leading Bollywood choreographer Ganesh Acharya's directorial debut "Swami", he will be seen in movies like "The Whisperers", "Das Kahaniyan" and "90 Minutes". In the last one directed by newcomer Iqbal Rizvi, he plays a football coach who is a "complete loser in life".

Whether it is Rizvi or Amrit Sagar -- the grandson of Ramanand Sagar who is starting his Bollywood innings with "1971" -- Manoj is not averse to working with first-time directors. "What do I do? It is only the new directors who are coming up with great scripts. I treat my script like the Bible. I read it at least 50 times to get a hang of it. I think the journey of approaching a role and doing it well is very painful, but the moment you see your work on celluloid it feels great and all the pain disappears."

Manoj, who plays the role of "Major Suraj Singh" in "1971" -- slated for release this Friday -- admits that he might not be getting good films because he may not be the "first choice" for them.

"Good scripts do not necessarily come to me. These days a lot of mainstream actors are willing to experiment and are welcoming challenging roles with both hands. I might be the third or fourth choice for them. This could be the reason why I might have missed out on some films. But I am ready to wait," says the actor known for his work in "Zubeidaa", "Pinjar", "Shool" and "Kaun". Not interested in branching out to direction, Manoj says he would turn a producer in the near future and produce films that he "would like to see". -- Parul Sharma

-- Parul Sharma

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