Manoj Bajpayee On Rooted Stories: 'Most People In Our Country Look Like Nawazuddin And Me'

Acclaimed actor Manoj Bajpayee vouches for more rooted stories and said that the common man is in the centre.

During a panel discussion at the ZEE5 Global launch of Add-ons in the US, Manoj along with others were seen talking about how to encourage more filmmakers to be more rooted.

To which, Manoj said: 바카라�When I was working with Mahesh Bhatt, I was also assisting him. I have done a role in Tamanna, we used to spend a lot of time together. That was a time, I remember I told him that our cinema is going바카라�, because our heroes are not looking like the audience.

바카라�This is a danger and Mahesh sahab would give his two bits about바카라� I always fought with him on that point and then I started being proven wrong because it stayed away from the audience and their life바카라�바카라�

바카라�Bigger the film started becoming and so much success the film started having that all the people and filmmakers, who were known for making rooted cinema they would start getting flabbergasted and the abroad shooting started increasing.

Manoj recalled how he was offered a role in New York and he had to decline and said: 바카라�바카라�I was like I am not going to look like anyone of them so don't give it to me바카라�. It was a desperate move I could see. That was an aspirational time. It was very much clear that most of the population was aspiring to be something else바카라�바카라�

바카라�People say it was a pandemic. They saw this change, no. For a decade, someone non-filmy told me this after RRR and Pushpa they are celebrating Allu Arjun and NTR바카라� It바카라�s just rest of India realised it with RRR and Pushpa. It바카라�s only because they could see their own heroes on that screen.

바카라�So, this is a lesson. It바카라�s not that we should start copying their stories or how they make it. We should stick to our storytelling but our hero should come from the audience. From our milieu as it was in the Amitabh Bachchan.바카라�

Manoj feels 바카라�things will change if we start telling people stories and get our hero from the masses.바카라�

He then gave an example of 바카라�Gadar and Gadar 2바카라�. He said the film바카라�s success is also because it

바카라�Is talking about people. The core of it was they wanted to see their story and hero.바카라�

바카라�They went to watch it. It is we start making those realistic cinema where the common man is in the centre.바카라�

Anupama Chopra, who was heading the panel discussion then shared an anecdote. She shared that actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui had once said that people keep calling him unconventional but he looks like 80 percent of the people in the country.

To which, Manoj said: 바카라�Nawaz is so right most of the people in our country look like me and Nawaz. There was a time when people wanted to be someone else. They wanted to see their heroes as Greek gods and as I said before it was an aspirational time but it is now a realistic time.바카라�