In a career that has seen him take on arguably every kind of role, Manoj Bajpayee has become one of the rare ‘acclaimed’ actors to have become a household name in India. As his latest film, Governor, is running in theatres, the National Award winner sits down with Hindustan Times to discuss the role, his journey, and the state of Indian cinema.
‘To make an engaging film on an RBI Governor is a huge thing’
Directed by Chinmay D. Mandlekar, Governor stars Manoj Bajpayee as S. Venkitaramanan, the former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. The film recounts Venkitaraman’s role in saving India from the 1990 economic crisis. “It’s a run against time for the protagonist to save the country from the crisis,” says Manoj of the film, describing it as a ‘thriller’ and not a ‘technical film on economy’. The actor says he was surprised by how engaging the script was. “To make a thrilling and engaging film on an RBI Governor and his journey to save the country from being declared bankrupt is a huge thing,” he says.
While playing S. Venkitaramanan, Manoj transforms into a 60-year-old Tamil bureaucrat, accent and all. Talking about adopting the Tamil accent and ensuring it doesn’t look gimmicky, he says, “First of all, I had to remind myself of the way this is for the Hindi audience. So, the accent cannot dominate the matter that I am talking. And still, people should have an idea that he doesn’t belong to the Hindi region. He is coming from Tamil Nadu. The Tamil guy will speak Hindi in a certain way, the Telugu guy in a certain way, and the Malayali guy in a certain way. We are actors; we keep observing all of that when we interact with our friends from all these regions, or when we work very closely with those people. As an actor, it’s your job that not only you are accurate without overdoing it.”
‘Bal Thackeray thought I was Marathi’
Manoj is not new to adopting accents for characters far removed from his cultural upbringing. His breakthrough came with Ram Gopal Varma’s Satya, in which he played a Marathi gangster named Bhiku Mhatre. His performance in the 1997 cult classic had the country convinced Manoj was Marathi himself. “Forget about anyone, Mr Bal Thackeray thought that too,” Manoj says with a laugh, recounting his encounter with the late Shiv Sena supremo in the 90s.
“He invited me to his place. He gave me so much respect, but he was completely baffled when he came to know that I am not from Maharashtra. And then he asked me to learn Marathi. He was so disappointed, but I had a great meeting with him. He gave me lots of blessings for the future.”
‘Apni audience ko dumb nahi samajhna chahiye’
Governor releases at a time when there is increased discourse on how intelligent the Indian audience is and whether Indian filmmakers underestimate them. “Chaahe koi kisi art ke field mein ho usko apni audience, apne spectator, apne admirer ko toh kabhi bhi dumb nahi samajhna chahiye. Har aadmi aapki art ko apne experience, apni education aur apni upbringing ke hisaab se dekhta hai. Har kisi ke paas kuch na kuch hota hai aapke us art se leke jaane ke liye. (Whether they are in any field of art, one should never consider their audience, their spectator, their admirer dumb. Every person views your art according to their own experience, education, and upbringing. Everyone has something to take away from your art),” asserts Manoj.
The actor admits that a section of Indian cinema is guilty of doing so, largely because of the commercial needs of certain genres. “The first target of commercial films is that we entertain as many people as possible,” he says, adding, “Its focus becomes different. So, there is an insecurity as there is an investment of too much money. So you are trying to cushion the film as much as possible. In that, there has also been a lot of dumbing down.”
However, Manoj concedes, “Now I think commercial film directors and producers have also improved quite a bit in this matter. They have also educated themselves, and the demography has changed.”
Governor, Manoj’s latest film, is running in theatres currently.