Manoj Bajpayee: One in 50 scripts surprises me

Manoj Bajpayee. Pics/Instagram

During the shoot of the segment, Hungama Hai Kyon Barpa, in Ray (2021), director Abhishek Chaubey casually told Manoj Bajpayee that he was planning a series. "I already said yes in my head," grins the actor, who was confident that the director would have something novel up his sleeve. Sure enough, Killer Soup, the filmmaker's maiden web series, is as twisted as they come. The Netflix black comedy revolves around Konkona Sensharma's character, who murders her shrewd husband and puts her lookalike lover as the stand-in, both essayed by Bajpayee.

Deliciously dark as the premise was, Bajpayee and Chaubey found themselves harbouring uncertainty on the set. The actor recalls that he was doubtful about the pitch of one of his characters. "If you watch The Wolf of Wall Street [2013] or my own performance in Satya [1998], they are high-pitched [performances]. You can make characters believable even on a higher pitch. But in OTT, how much is too much? Everything feels close to you in OTT. So, the pitch was an aspect that was making me nervous." But having Chaubey, who is as creatively adventurous as him, made the show a terrific experience for Bajpayee. "Both of us were exploring. But he always said one thing to me, ‘Manoj sir, it looked fantastic. Let's go with it. Let's not think too much.'"

Collaborating with the director was an enriching experience, as it has been every time, from Sonchiriya (2019) to Ray. The cherry on the top was Sensharma's casting. "It was so exciting to hear her name for the first time in a project that I was a part of. She is someone whom I have admired from a distance. She had left me intrigued with A Death in the Gunj [2016]. Then Sayaji's [Shinde] name came up. Then, more names started coming up and the show looked like a flavourful plate right in front of you," smiles the actor.

Bajpayee himself has served one flavour after the other to the audience over the past few years - from The Family Man to the recent Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai (2023) and Joram (2023). The actor admits it's not easy for a script to surprise him. "One in 50 scripts surprises me. I am always looking to be blown away in the first 30 pages. It's like a good novel. If I am thinking about it even when I'm having lunch, there's a good chance I'll be a part of it."