Manoj Bajpayee’s over two-decade-long career in Bollywood is peppered with many markers of significance, including a Padma Shri, two National awards and four Filmfare awards. But, as I chat with the star, I realise he is very grounded. He is even on a first name basis with his neighbourhood vegetable vendor. “My wife and I buy from her every other morning after our walk,” he tells me, matter-of-factly.
At 50, Bajpayee knows a thing or two about balancing the various aspects of his life, which makes him perfect to play the role of a man juggling his middle-class life with that of a spy, in Amazon Prime Video’s new show, The Family Man . The trailer on the streaming site shows his character, Srikant Tiwari, timidly applying for a home loan and forgetting to pick up his kids from school, while, away from his family, he is chasing terrorists and working to thwart an attack on India. “I found it quite relatable and, yet, unique. Srikant is an unassuming middle-class guy, striving to find a balance between a demanding family and an [equally] demanding job. It is a tribute to all the common people of this world,” says the actor. Directed by the talented duo of Raj (Nidimoru) and (Krishna) DK, the series also stars Priyamani, Gul Panag, Sharib Hashmi and Sharad Kelkar, among others.
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This isn’t Bajpayee’s first time playing an intelligence officer. He’s essayed similar roles in films like Special 26 and Naam Shabana . But, in The Family Man , fast-paced action is more often than not interspersed with the everyday, including situations that seem almost farcical. In one of the most ‘middle-class dad’ scenes in the trailer, Tiwari is distracted by a text from work while his daughter’s school principal is lecturing him. “That’s a fun scene and a perfect example of him trying to balance these two worlds. He is in the middle of chaos and has to get back to work, but this principal wants to talk about his daughter’s behaviour. He is stuck; he doesn’t know what he should prioritise at that moment,” says Bajpayee, adding, “I am just so happy that better sense prevailed when this show came my way and I chose to be a part of it.”
The actor has previously spoken about how he’d stayed away from the digital space because of shows with an “overdose of sex and violence”; he wanted to wait for something unique. But, when I bring up recent talk about censoring OTT platforms in India, he immediately asks, “How would you censor the web? It is free-for-all. I know... there is too much sex and violence, but I’m confident the audience will get bored of this soon. People want good content, so the correction will happen by itself. It shouldn’t be forced.”
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- For directors Raj and DK, Bajpayee was their first pick for the role. “He is someone everybody can identify with. At the same time, there’s a darker side to him. That’s the duality of this actor — he’s easily likeable as a common man, but can be sinister as a gangster or a spy,” says Raj. Having directed sleeper hits like Shorin the City (2010) and Go Goa Gone (2013), and written and co-produced the successful Stree (2018), the duo had been itching to explore the long-format narrative. “This idea of an everyman who is also a spy would’ve been wasted in a three-hour format because there is so much to explore. While there is a terror plot at its centre, the show is about so much more: his family, the inner workings of his agency and what motivates these men and women to do this job, which comes with only difficulties and no perks,” DK concludes.
Digital challenge
This is not Bajpayee’s first foray into the digital space, however. He has been part of two shorts — Shirish Kunder’s psychological thriller Kriti and Devashish Makhija’s Taandav , where he played a foot-loose cop — that went viral. The Family Man , however, marks his début into the world of long-format content. “It is so hard,” he says. “You need to know the whole show and the graph of your character perfectly. There is a lot of homework and preparation required. Also, shows take longer to make, which means you are living with that character for longer.” Among the actors he is inspired by (in this genre) is Bryan Cranston, who played Heisenberg on the acclaimed show, Breaking Bad . What about his favourite shows? He lists everything from House of Cards and Narcos to the more recent Chernobyl and Mindhunter .
Bajpayee will be following up the spy-thriller with a crime-thriller, Mrs Serial Killer. A Netflix Original directed by Kunder, the film marks Jacqueline Fernandez’s digital début. “It has shaped up well and Jacqueline has given a lifetime performance in this one,” he says. The actor is also awaiting the big screen release of Bhosle , a film where he plays a jaded Mumbai cop who strikes up a friendship with a young girl and her brother.
The Family Man will launch on Amazon Prime Video on September 20.