Earlier this year, he made a special appearance in Sonchiriya. Even in that brief appearance, he impressed the audience. He will now be seen as a central protagonist in the 10-episode series -- The Family Man -- and his fans cannot have enough of him.
That's Manoj Bajpayee for you -- the man for all seasons.
As he makes his debut in the Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K (popularly known as Raj & DK)-directed series, the actor shares his reasons for The Family Man turning out to be his web debut.
"When Raj & DK told me that the whole focus of the narration would be on this character being a middle class guy, I was hooked. This is a world that we haven’t explored. Whether it is films or series, we always show spies to be larger than life. Somehow, we have touched realism in every sphere, be it gangsters or cops. However, we have never shown a middle class guy on screen who is also a spy. What if other than a demanding job, he also has a demanding family? What if this ordinary guy actually does extraordinary things," Manoj questions.
That was the core of The Family Man where Raj & DK wanted to present the story of a common man, albeit in their own unique story telling manner.
"I am working with them for the first time and cannot think of not working with them for another one year at least," chuckles Manoj, who has already acted in over 70 films during his career spanning over 25 years. "Both of them are so easy and open minded. They don't have any ego or arrogance whatsoever. When they work, they work. When they party, they party like there is no tomorrow."
Raj & DK are known to intersperse quirky humour in their storytelling, and that would be on display in The Family Man as well. Even the most serious of sequences sometimes bring on a twist in the tale, thanks to the kind of narrative that the director duo is famous for.
"See, for my web series debut, I always wanted to do something ground breaking. Now, these two guys are amazingly gifted as directors. They bring on a new approach in their writing as well as direction. When we were beginning to prepare for The Family Man last year, their Stree had already become a blockbuster. These guys have come up in a big way and with The Family Man they are taking many steps ahead," says Manoj in an appreciative tone.
He is particularly happy that Amazon is aggressively marketing the series to ensure that it enjoys an excellent global reach.
"I am thrilled that Amazon offices in both India and LA are so kicked about it. They saw the series and were 1,000 percent sure about going aggressive with its marketing campaign," says Manoj in an excited tone. "I can see that there is genuine happiness amongst them to be a part of a great project that has resulted in a fantastic product. The kind of visibility that The Family Man has already enjoyed so far is unheard of. People have already been calling me incessantly to tell me how exciting and entertaining they are finding the series. I am glad it has all worked out."
(Joginder Tuteja is a trade expert and film critic. Views are personal)
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