Hero rises from gully, not from the gym

Showcasing Manoj as a heartland hero in Bhaiyya Ji, director says audience now connects with protagonist who looks like the common man

Last year, Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai received so much love on its digital première that it was soon released theatrically. This time around, director Apoorv Singh Karki has taken the big-screen route with Bhaiyya Ji, an action film led by Manoj Bajpayee. Despite the switch, the director insists that the size of a screen hardly matters. “I started my career with Aspirants, which the whole world saw on YouTube. A good story reaches its people,” he shares.

Apoorv Singh Karki

Bhaiyya Ji is an unapologetically mainstream offering, revelling in its action and dialoguebaazi. Produced by Bajpayee, it sees the actor as a heartland hero fighting off baddies—an avatar that we’ve rarely seen him in. Karki believes his casting of a relatable hero and treatment of an age-old story set the movie apart. “Most successes of the last few years, leaving aside Shah Rukh Khan’s films, have relatable heroes. The hero looks like my father, my uncle, or someone who comes from my neighbourhood. KGF and Pushpa: The Rise [2021] work because the audiences relate to the people and the stories. This isn’t a hero who jumps from the helicopter; he gets up from the streets. Films about social injustice and corruption work. The hopelessness towards the system can be rectified by a hero who, in an alternate world, can punch, kill and give us closure.”

Bajpayee headlining the movie is a crucial move in changing the face of today’s mainstream hero. “I’ve always seen him as a mainstream hero. But he said no one offers him such parts. It mustn’t be forgotten that Gangs of Wasseypur [2012] works because he is a recognisable face,” states Karki.

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