EXCLUSIVE! Manoj Bajpayee on Silence 2: ‘OTT has given me in abundance in terms of offers and choices’ | Not Just Bollywood

OTT is one of the most democratic platforms which allows not only the craftsmen to evolve, but the viewers to get an exposure like never before. But for Manoj Bajpayee, he has been doing roles that challenge him whether it is a Gulmohar, Bandaa, Joram, Killer Soup and now Silence 2. He says in a candid chat with Firstpost_,_ that with OTT he has been very lucky in terms of offers and choices and he thrives on challenges.

 Edited excerpts from the interview:

The character of ACP Avinash has evolved and it has become much more layered in _Silence 2_. What do you have to say about that?

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Layering what happens that the writer has done her job. The director is doing her job in terms of setting everything right for you. My job is to keep finding those layers, those subtexts, in between the lines, which is actually coming from my personal life. And these are the things one doesn’t discuss too much with the director because she has too many things to take care of. And you don’t want to engage her in these discussions. Or you don’t try to tell her that this is what I’m thinking, my job is just to do it, and let’s see how she’s responding to it.

I personally feel that, ACP Avinash Verma is at a stage in his life where he is much more easy with himself. He has come to terms with his personal life. In the first one, he was a frustrated guy. He didn’t know how to handle his loneliness. In this one, I think he’s much more easy and sorted.

And about your relationship, how has it changed with your team of people?

 Now my character Avinash is quite familiar with the behaviour and temperament of his team. So he knows them completely in and out. So he’s far easier, calm, but he’s demanding and that trait continues. He’s a very demanding officer, demanding of their time, demanding of their attention and he remains a complete no nonsense guy. He is still a good leader though.

With the digital platform, audiences have evolved and it is a great time for actor and viewers too. I understand that is a kind of a pressure for the performers as well. What do you have to say about that?

 It’s a healthy pressure on the craftsman as well. And, there are no black and white characters. Everybody is a hero on OTT. In my case, this is what I have been doing all of these years, you know, hopping genres, trying to do various kinds of roles, belonging to different genres and the scripts, different worlds altogether.

But now with OTT, what has happened, all that you have just mentioned Also, what happens, when the audience is sitting down with the remote in their hand, they subconsciously their mind-set is very different from the theatre viewing audience. When they are going to the theatre, you know, subconsciously, they are demanding something else. But when they are sitting in front of a TV or watching it on their iPad, somewhere, you know, I feel that subconsciously, they are there ready to welcome anything which is different and exciting.

They want what they want to see, they don’t want to be part of something that they have already seen. They want a different kind of story to be told and experience something very new. As for me, with the OTT, I have been very, very lucky in terms of the offers and my choices. I mean, if you look at just the last year, starting with Gulmohar and then Bandaa. And then an independent film like Joram and going and doing, Killer Soup, which is such a crazy ride. So, it has really helped me a great deal in evolving as an actor because this is what I was looking for. This is what all craftsmen like me want. And OTT has given me in abundance. The pressure coming from the audience doesn’t matter. It is only helping to perform better with every new project. If the pressure I am taking and expecting a lot from my own self, then, you know, it really doesn’t matter who is expecting what from me. It is me who is taking that journey. It is me who is far more interested in evolving as an actor and doing complete justice to anything which I’m being part of, it becomes my thing. It has become my journey. It has become a challenge for me. Will I be able to do justice to what you call challenging?