'I Am Here To Live My Dream And Not Anybody Else's Dream': Manoj Bajpayee

Man for all seasons Manoj Bajpayee is enjoying a resurrection of sorts over OTT. Jitesh Pillaai chats with him about the new horizons coming his way

When you first saw him in Satya (1998), you were struck by the raw intensity in Manoj Bajpayee’s eyes. That intensity hasn’t dimmed over the years. The hunger he felt then is still there. So is his zeal towards excellence, towards perfection. He made filmmakers go back to the drawing board about how a film’s hero should be. And now, in the current scenario, he’s making content creators re-imagine how leading men should look like in the era of OTT. After successfully playing secret agent Srikant Tiwari in The Family Man Season 1, he made the audience fall in love with a fallible Srikant in Season 2. Who would have thought he’d become an action star at 50 plus. But Manoj has never gone with the flow and has no plans to do so even at this stage of his career. Presenting excerpts from a candid chatathon with the maverick actor...

IF YOU EVER MET SRIKANT FROM THE FAMILY MAN IN REAL LIFE, WHAT KIND OF QUESTIONS WOULD YOU ASK HIM?

(Laughs) I would say I get you brother. His whole conflict that he goes through at home, I completely get that. For a man or a woman, it is difficult to strike that balance between work life and family life. He is somebody who has two very strong-willed women at home. And I too have two very independent women at my home. So I get him, I feel him.

GIVE A TYPICAL SRIKANT-LIKE SITUATION YOU HAVE FACED AT HOME.

(Laughs) Just now, before this interview, my daughter was ranting, ‘You are always working, you’re never at home. You didn’t come to meet me from Munnar. You have come to do your work.’

WHAT DID YOUR WIFE SAY?

(Grins) My wife is used to it by now.