Known for his portrayal of realistic characters in hard-hitting films, National Award winning actor Manoj Bajpayee says he prefers a good script over working with popular stars and that commercial filmmakers have no suitable roles for him.
The actor, whose next film “Budhia Singh – Born To Run” is releasing on Friday, said he has no qualms in acting in any kind of film as long as it has a “good script”.
“I do realistic films, I do small-budget films and I am known for doing small-budget films. For me, script matters and not known people or faces,” Manoj told IANS in a telephonic interview from Mumbai.
The 47-year-old star, in his over two-decade-long journey in Hindi filmdom, has worked in critically acclaimed films like “Satya”, “Kaun”, “Zubeidaa”, “Pinjar”, “Gangs of Wasseypur”, “Aligarh” and “Traffic”.
A versatile actor, Manoj’s most recent power-packed performance was as a gay professor, Ramchandra Siras, in Hansal Mehta’s biographical drama “Aligarh”. He also impressed his fans and critics with his portrayal of a character named Sapan in Shirish Kunder’s short film “Kriti”.
In “Budhia Singh – Born to Run”, the actor will be seen essaying the real life character of Biranchi Das, who coached a boy named Budhia to run the marathon.
“I have played a mentor in the film. I think every child needs a person like Biranchi Das, who recognises the talents of small children and takes it forward in life and pushes them towards their dream.”
Budhia had catapulted into the limelight as a four-year-old after running a record-breaking 65 km from Puri to Bhubaneswar in 2006, in seven hours and two minutes and securing a place in the Limca Book of Records. He has now faded into obscurity, complaining that his current coach wants him to run shorter distances and not the marathon.
The “Chakravyuh” star says the life and struggle of Biranchi Das and Budhia “is very inspirational and a lot can be learnt from it”.
“The film is not just for a particular section of people, but for all the schools, students, teachers and parents for recognising their children’s talent and how to take it forward,” he said.
