Rajesh Pillai is making things happen from above: Manoj Bajpai

The tragic death of director Rajesh Pillai last year hasn’t stopped his last work Traffic from going places. The film, which is a remake of the original Malayalam version, was made by Rajesh in 2014 and is gearing up for a release this year. The entire star cast, including the lead actors Manoj Bajpai and Divya Dutta, recently gathered for the launch of the film’s trailer, where they paid tribute to the late director and shared how special the film was to them.

Speaking at the launch, Manoj said, “I want to assure the makers from the side of the entire cast that we will promote the film and give our full support to it. I am sure Rajesh is watching from above and making things happen.”

Talking about his personal experiences with traffic cops he said, “I underestimate myself quite a bit, so when my driver makes mistakes, which he does once in a while, I get to hear the traffic cops because of him. A lot of times it happens that the traffic cops stop the car and once the windows are rolled down they look inside and then they look again and recognise me and say ‘make your driver understand he shouldn’t make these mistakes’. Toh mujhey daant sunna padti hai uski wajah se. Once I actually asked the cops to keep his driving license to teach him a lesson.”

On being asked if he has or will bribe a traffic cop, he said, “I don’t bribe, I am a very straightforward person. If you make a mistake, accept it. No need to bribe. I will pay the fine if my driver is caught but will never pay a bribe to bail him out.”

Originally released in Malayalam, Traffic was remade into Tamil and Kannada as well. The Hindi version seems to exude the aura of street angst. It ventures into a real life story of a girl in need of an urgent heart transplant. Interestingly, Traffic releases a week ahead of Vivek Agnihotri’s Buddha In a Traffic Jam and a week after the S. Ramanujan biopic The Man Who Knew Infinity, which is also a story of indomitable courage in the face of adversity.

Sharing that he is still reeling from the shock of Rajesh’s untimely demise, Manoj says, “I am still in shock and disbelief. I just can’t come to terms with the fact that he is gone so suddenly. Rajesh was such a passionate filmmaker. He gave priority to his cinema over anything else, including his health. Now that we are looking at the release of the film, I miss him more than ever. God bless his soul.”

Divya Dutta, who plays the mother of the girl who is in need of a heart transplant, lost the director and her mother at around the same time. “Traffic is a very special film. Rajesh was such a lovely man. He possessed a rare childlike innocence. And he was so engrossed in the making of the film. Wish he was here to see its release.”

The actress further shared how much she enjoyed her part and said, “The actress who played my role in the Malayalam original got a National award. The character left me drained. Traffic is a film that’s straight from the heart.”