Renaissance Man : Manoj Bajpayee

The butterfly effect is described as a phenomenon whereby a minute localised change Tin a complex system can have large effects elsewhere. That’s what the emergence of OTT platforms has done to the lives of both content creators and viewers. Actors have benefited most from it as now they’re being judged on the merit of their performance and not their star value. Manoj Bajpayee, a star performer for the last 20 years, found himself marginalisd in movies lately. But he made a resurgence, thanks to the humongous popularity of The Family Man, where he played the title role. He was an unusual choice to play a secret agent but proved to be the show’s leading light, thanks to his split-second timing. The second season of the show will start soon and Manoj is understandably excited about it...

You seem ahead of your times. You did short films much before anyone else and won awards for them. Then you jumped on the OTT bandwagon and won the Filmfare Best Actor In A Drama Series (Critics’) Award for The Family Man as well…

Thank you very much. When I was in Cannes a couple of years ago to promote Bhonsle, I saw a 20-year-old boy getting mobbed by the French audience. And when I enquired about it, they told me that he is a YouTube star from France. No other Hollywood or French actor got that kind of attention from the audience. So I learnt that this is the way ahead. This is the way the world is spinning these days. My wife kept pushing me to do short films. All of them got so many awards. Looking at the world and the changing patterns, you can realise what’s the way forward. This is not rocket science. I just keep my eyes open about every activity and the way the world is responding to it. I have an eye on each and every actor who’s working today. All the young actors and how they’re experimenting with their performances and how they’re reinventing the craft. So you keep changing, reinventing yourself — otherwise, survival would be difficult.

How has the COVID-19 situation changed things for an actor?