Awards are opportunities to wear great suits: Manoj Bajpai

Manoj Bajpai is a man on a mission and it’s evident from his body language. Elbows rested on the table, body leaning forward, Bajpai peppers his answers with witty jokes. Bajpai has had a good start to the year with Aligarh winning accolades from the critics and now Traffic hits the screens. Bajpai on his part is taking his job to promote his releases head on. Just before he arrives for a discussion over a cup of tea, we’re told Bajpai had a tiring day manning a traffic signal in Juhu. Once he’s settled in, though, the answers about his disdain for box office figures, fondness for young directors and an evolving style of storytelling flow. Excerpts from the interview:

Traffic is based on a real life incident. What are the factors to keep in mind while working in a film based on real events When you are capturing such a journey, you can’t play with the truth. The story must be relatable to every type of audience. The audience should feel that it is based on a real event, and is not fictitious or imaginative. As an actor, these are the kind of films that I have mostly associated myself with. Realism is something I’ve fought for throughout my career.

Tell us about your film. What made you sign up for it The film is based on a true incident that happened in Chennai a few years ago. Our late director made a film on that incident in Malayalam. Now the film is being adapted for the Hindi audience. It’s an emotional thriller. There are multiple lives attached to that one incident. An organ is to be transferred from Mumbai to Pune, and through this journey, the characters are looking for redemption.

What is your character like I am playing the role of a traffic constable who is given the duty of transferring the organ by road from Mumbai to Pune when choppers are rendered useless due to weather conditions. My character is looking to get his respect back through this journey and wants to come out of the guilt from his mistakes in the past.

How did you prepare for the role Traffic cops are a part of our daily life. We see them everyday, so I didn’t meet anyone. I had a few friends who helped me. It’s the story of a common man living on a meagre salary, with dreams for himself and his family.

When do you say yes to a project There isn’t anything specific that comes to mind. When you’re experienced enough in this business, you understand where the script is going in the first 20 pages itself. I only do a film if it’s very good in its genre—something unique and different that I haven’t offered my audience before.

We don’t see you doing a lot of commercial films... See, I love mainstream as a genre because it has a wide reach. But it is only now that they’ve started exploring the genre with different content and story. Now there are films like Airlift, Fan or Bajrangi Bhaijaan, which I loved watching. I am all for mainstream, but I was against the kind of films they were making. It was boring. But now, a change is coming. The problem with mainstream is that casting is on the basis of your market value and I don’t fit into that well. My selling point is my acting ability. There are few of us who take great pride in being called actors and not stars. There’s no glamour attached to us, only the performance of our last film.

Do box office figures matter to you No. It never has. Only four or five films of mine can be called successful at the box office and this is the 22nd year of my career. (laughs) But I’ve survived. Box office figures aren’t my business. You can’t base a film’s quality on the basis of the first weekend’s collection. If the film doesn’t have a life of its own, there’s no point in doing it.

You are usually very open to working with young directors... Actually, if you give me just young directors, I am completely fine with that. Five out of the six films I’ve done this year are by young directors. They come up with new ways of storytelling. They are breaking the grammar of filmmaking with innovating methods. They update me as an actor.

How much do you value awards In this country I absolutely don’t! They don’t increase my salary and they don’t increase the number of films I get. They’re just opportunities to wear great suits!