I own my films. My conviction is not based on how they did at the box office, says Manoj

People warned me that I was an idealist & that it was difficult to fight the system, but technology has fought it, says Manoj

- Anshul Chaturvedi

In an industry where actors are quick to distance themselves from projects that fail at the box office, here is an actor, at the peak of his popularity, batting for a 15-year-old release which, as he vividly remembers, did not even have posters in many of the halls it released in, and yet won two National Awards. Manoj Bajpayee explains why 1971, a 2007 release, being watched by millions online in 2022 feels like poetic justice and how he cannot disown projects once he takes them on.

The year is 2012. Manoj Bajpayee is talking about the just-released Gangs Of Wasseypur. Never one to be seen at movie promotions, isn’t the current campaign – unfamiliar territory – tiring for him? Manoj replies, “Things have changed a lot; the fact that everything is temporary was perhaps never as true as it is now. Meri kuch filmon ka jo hashr hua woh mujhe yaad hai, when I faced situations where the producer could not ensure much visibility for my movies, sometimes from lack of funds, or from other reasons.”