Manoj Bajpai Speaks To Subhash K Jha On His New Film Silence

You have a  new release  on  the digital  platform?

Yes, Silence: Can You Hear  It. It is  directed  by Aban Bharucha Deohans whom I  know from the time I used to hang around with her  husband the  celebrated  cinematographer  Kiran Deohans. They are  like family.

How  close?

My wife Shabana   and I  often meet up with Kiran and Aban. Kiran  shot another film of mine Hanan. We are quite close.Aban was always fascinated by the whodunit genre. She told me  about this script  a year and a half ago. I was looking  for  a gap in my schedule to accommodate  the  film. Now here I am.I play a cop investigating a  murder.

 Do you see  the  OTT  platform as  a viable alternative for the movie-theatre experience?

At this moment I see no  other viable option. The Government  had announced  a 100 percent capacity  of audience attention. Then seeing the second wave  of Corona they again reduced  it to  fifty percent. For a very long time in the  coming  months and years, the OTT is  going  to be the only viable  medium of entertainment.

Is  the  OTT the only ahead  for our cinema  industry?

If you want to call it the way ahead, I  would say it is  the way ahead.The OTT is  a sea of entertainment to choose from. People  have been consuming content  in  the OTT platform day-in and  day-out.To just be   working at a  time like this  is a  blessing for me . It’s great to be  a part of  such  varied stories and  to be working with talented  directors  who want to work with me. I am glad to remain relevant  after so many years.

What is  the  truth about  Family Man going in for auto-correction  to  comply with the  new guideline?

Lots  of speculation on that.If you  really want to know the truth then  here  it is. Not a word  not a shot has been  auto-corrected. There  is no change  . The series  is complete.It’s right now  lying in safe house  waiting for a date to start streaming. The Family Man  doesn’t have one word that  is objectionable.  It tells you the  story of a common man  who has to balance a very demanding job with a very demanding family. There is  not a  word that has been changed. I hope you will help me  put all speculation to rest.

What do you think  about the new  I & B  guidelines  for  the  OTT platforms?

As far as  I understand it,the  OTT platforms are expected to form their  self-monitoring committees. Fair enough. I would request  these platforms  to be sensitive  to the  creative  material and not base their  revisions of the content on  assumptions. They should be very careful in their regulation. The biggest beauty  of  the OTT  lies in its creative freedom. We must always value  and preserve that  freedom.

Are your shootings affected  by your Covid  condition?

Of course! 2-3people being infected  on  one set means that whole shooting is called off. And that will have a snowballing affect  on my entire shooting schedule for the  next year or so.  Each and every  schedule   of my forthcoming films is affected.