Box office is a very illusive place: Bajpayee

The actor, whose ‘Bhonsle’ has skipped theatres, believes OTT is here to stay

Actor Manoj Bajpayee began his career in theatre and quickly moved on to the big screen and has been a part of films such as ‘Droh Kaal’, ‘Bandit Queen’, ‘Pinjar’, ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’, ‘Raajneeti’ and ‘Satyagraha.’ He recently forayed into web series with the ‘The Family Man’.

Director Devashish Makhija’s long-delayed film ‘Bhonsle’ was released on SonyLIV on June 26. Recipient of several international awards, the film is set in Mumbai. It stars Manoj Bajpayee as a terminally-ill Maharashtrian cop who tries to save a migrant girl. Ahead of its release, Manoj talked to Showtime, about why he decided to produce the film and why he thinks OTT is here to stay.

Did you ever expect ‘Bhonsle’ to have an OTT release? How excited are you?

The viewership on OTT is booming right now because of the lockdown. People have been exploring the platform and consuming everything that they find interesting. It feels like their hunger for good content is insatiable. At this time, Bhonsle coming to OTT is great and I hope it gets a massive viewership. It would have been completely impossible for a film like ‘Bhonsle’, which falls in the genre of independent cinema, to get a huge response in the theatre. It would have been judged, destroyed and forgotten. Critics would have coined a new term for failure. OTT is far more liberating, democratic and offers a level-playing field.

What was it like to play Bhonsle?

It took us four years to make the film. Producers were hesitant to invest in it because they feared the film might offend particular communities or that they may have to face a backlash. The film belongs to Bhonsle. It is about his journey, his loneliness and reclusiveness. The backdrop that it is set in is volcanic and the film is talking about an issue that is quite prevalent today. It is narrated in such a way that there is no villain. It throws the spotlight on people who are caught up in the nexus of the society and system. And somewhere, they seem to have lost the definition of right and wrong. The cinema has focussed on the human aspect of it all.

You are a co-producer on ‘Bhonsle’. What prompted you to make the investment?

I wish to do films that matter to me as a creative person, rather than just doing a film keeping the box office in mind. Box office is a very illusive place because you don’t know what will work and what won’t. I want to put my craft into creating something unique. I want to be a part of a world that is far more liberating and in a space that gives me creative freedom as an actor.

With theatres not opening anytime soon, is OTT here to stay?

Theatres will open when they open. Theatres offer a collective cinema viewing experience that cannot be replaced by anything else. It has its own strength. Once people start feeling quite free to get into the theatre, they will start going back to it. But now, since they have got into the habit of watching films on OTT, I believe that it has become an important factor in the entertainment industry.