Artistes like us from Bihar and elsewhere draw a lot of inspiration from the success of Manoj Bajpayee—always Bhaiya to me—in the film industry. I still remember the day when I watched Satya at Apsara Cinema in Patna. The year was 1998. It was kind of surreal for aspiring actors like me—the man who played the character of Bhiku Mhatre was from our own Bihar, Belwa village in West Champaran district. It was just the kind of inspiring story I needed.
Manoj Bhaiya has certainly been an inspiration all through my journey of becoming an actor. But there is another interesting story that connects my journey to him. Once, Manoj Bhaiya was in Motihari for the shooting of Shool (1999) and stayed at Maurya Hotel in Patna where I worked those days, doing theatre. After Manoj Bhaiya checked out from the hotel, a housekeeping staff told me that Bhaiya had forgotten to take his slippers. I immediately asked him to give them to me. I thought maybe his chappal would bring me luck, that if I wore them, the doors of success in the film industry would also open up for me. Along the way, I drew inspiration from Manoj Bhaiya—to work hard to hone my craft, refine it further by doing theatre, because I didn’t know anybody in the industry and the only way of succeeding was through hard work.
Last year, Manoj Bhaiya got the best actor award for The Family Man Season 1 and I got the Critics Guild Award for best supporting actor for Mirzapur. For me, this award was different as it was for performance on OTT, and with the person who made me an actor.
During my struggling days, I used to often meet him and also worked with him in films like Gangs of Wasseypur (2012). During those days, a flicker of hope was always burning inside me that something or the other will work out. I would watch his films every now and then and often wonder how meticulously he played all his characters.
It is a coincidence that our journey from Bihar to Mumbai has taken more or less the same trajectory. We left our village, came to Patna, went to Delhi, did theatre before reaching Mumbai. Apart from films, we are now working on OTT platforms. This digital platform is a very democratic medium for actors like us because the discussion revolves only around the good and bad. As an actor, you also get enough time. In a web series, you get six to eight hours to tell a story. It gives you breathing time. This is the contribution of OTT. It is basically the medium of actors. Here, we do not face the commercial pressure of box office collections of our films in the initial days of their release. The only pressure is to act well. It does not matter how many screens will be available for our film in the multiplexes or how many viewers will reach the theatres.
My film Gurgaon (2016) had got only 80 screens. Even if you wanted to watch it, you would not have found a theatre near you. But this is not a problem on OTT. It will reach everyone interested. Even if you are sitting alone at home or elsewhere, you can watch anything of your choice, regardless of where you are. All you need is a gadget and an internet connection.
It is because of the good content on these platforms that actors like us have got opportunities. There is no doubt that there are a lot of avenues and possibilities for new actors on OTTs, but neither Manoj Bhaiya nor I found success overnight. I want to tell every youngster who comes to make a career in the film industry that they should come only when they are fully prepared. Recently, during a shoot in Mumbai, I met a young man from my home district Gopalganj who had come to become an actor. When he spoke to me from the crowd in my mother tongue Bhojpuri, I asked him if he had any experience in theatre. He said that he would do it in Mumbai. I asked him, “Why not in Patna, which has a very good theatre scene?”
I don’t know if I should have given this advice to him or not but I want to say that whoever comes to make a career in films, should come fully prepared. Come only after your base is strong. Both Manoj Bhaiya and I did a lot of theatre before we came to Mumbai. And Mumbai accepted us. As did viewers across regions.
(This appeared in the print edition as "If The Chappal Fits, Wear It")
(As told to Giridhar Jha)
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