Manoj Bajpayee takes a dig at Rs 1000 crore movies, saying no one cares about the performances anymore

The pandemic has made the Hindi film industry come to a stop due to theatres being shut nationwide for the better part of two years. Through this time, the OTT platform boomed and when cinemas reopened, people were concerned whether the films would be accepted as well like before or not. But then Pushpa: The Rise, The Kashmir Files, RRR and K.G.F: Chapter 2 proved that the theatres are still as poignant. But whether commerce and art can go hand in hand or not, that remains the question and Manoj Bajpayee recently opened up on his views about it.

In an interaction with NDTV Good Times, Manoj Bajpayee asserted that in the race to mint money, people have forgot to talk about the content being made. He says, “Koi baat hi nahi karraha hai ki film kaesi hai? Koi baat karne ko raazi nahi hai performances kaesi hai. Baki departments ki kya contribution hai? Kya hai na hum sab ₹1000 crore aur ₹300 crore aur ₹400 crore mein phasein huye hai. Yeh jhagda kaayi saalon se chal raha hai aur mujhe lagta hai ki yeh khatam hone wala hai nahi. (sic) (No one is talking about how is the film, how are the performances, what is the contribution of the other departments. All of us are stuck in the figures of ₹1000 crore and ₹300 crore and ₹400 crore. This argument has been going on for years and I don’t think it will end.)”

 

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The actor asserted that after the success of such films, the critics are now questioning mainstream cinema makers about why are they not making films like that and why aren’t their films working. “Those in the mainstream are being put in the witness box by their own mainstream critics,” he adds. But he also insists that he isn’t a part of that race, never has been and never will be. “As for me, I was never a part of that world. I used to go sometimes to that world for some reason but would come back again. For us getting our film released in theatres was tough before. Now it gets tougher due to the ₹1000 crore films.” He insists that in this situation, OTT has been a boon and he is loving the work being done there.

Manoj has recently wrapped up the shoot of Gulmohar with Sharmila Tagore, Amol Palekar, Suraj Sharma and Simran Rishi Bagga. He also has the Hindi adaptation of The Sandma alongside Vijay Varma, Adarsh Gourav, Kubbra Sait, Tillotama Shome, Neeraj Kabi, and Sushant Divgikr. Apart from that, he will be seen in Devashish Makhija’s suspense drama Joram.

Also read: Manoj Bajpayee shares precious moments with Rajinikanth and Dhanush from National Film Awards