"Dus Tola"

Recently I got several offers from different political parties to campaign in Bihar. However, I denied all of those offers. I have already given my message to people through different channels of Media that they should exercise their most important democratic right - the right to vote. I hope that people of Bihar will come out and cast their votes properly in huge numbers. I hope they will elect those who are not associated with criminal background, the right candidates.

Meanwhile, I was busy in promoting 3D animation movie “Ramayana”. The movie has been released this Friday and it is garnering appreciation from viewers as well. I would like to appeal personally to all the parents that they must take their children to watch this movie. Not only because it is an ultimate movie in the world of 3D cinema, but also because it is a movie that teaches moral values. What could be better than this to introduce our children to Indian cultural heritage? I have given my voice to Lord Rama’s character.

Now, I am totally consumed in the promotional activities of my next movie “Dus Tola”. This is a small budget movie, but a very good one. I think this is the first occasion in the history of Indian cinema, when a movie is based on a jeweler. It is the story of a jeweler. It is a story of his love, his family, a story of antagonism within family. This is also the story of his golden necklace - how he prepares a Dus Tola necklace and how it changes his life altogether - this is the plot of the movie.

Dus Tola had completed within 35 days of shooting. The movie is very simple - a simple story and proper entertainment. The moral of the story is - do not test an ordinary man’s tolerance, do not test his love.

I am very pleased with myself for choosing this movie. I am happy because I have not only chosen this script, but also its director. Director Ajay Verma is a man who wants to say something different through cinema, a person who wants to create a new grammar for cinema, a person interested in folk stories. He is more than eager to show villages and towns on silver screen. It’s rare to see villages in Hindi movies now-a-days. People of Metropolises get all the comforts of life in their cities and do not care for the rural life or culture much. Most of us think only of abroad and villages are nowhere in our priority lists. Even many of us don’t want to touch village boundaries.

All the actors have worked brilliantly in Dus Tola. A new girl, Pallavi Sharda, is being introduced through this movie. She has brought up in Australia, educated in Law and knows Bharat Natyam very well.

I am quite busy in promoting this movie these days. I will go to Delhi and Meerut on Monday only for this purpose. Why Meerut? In fact, producer of this movie belongs to Meerut. I hope to spend a great time there. It is going to be the first time when I’ll stay there for so long. Waiting for conversation with common guys there, and of course, waiting most for Bajare ki Roti and Subji. And if I could get one glass lassi after that… It is like an icing on the cake. It’s the specialty of western Uttar Pradesh.

Well, my mind is occupied with Dus Tola only. Will let you know all the further details about Dus Tola and my other plans through my blog. And yes, don’t forget to go and watch the movie with your family. I hope you will enjoy it a lot. Till then, bye…

Yours

Manoj Bajpayee

Political thought ignited by Rajneeti

Politics, especially in India, is one such topic on which making a film is an extremely difficult task. Actually, politics isn’t just about governing but it also encompasses various aspects of human behavior like greed, power, hate, oppression etc. Encapsulating all these emotions in a two and a half hour film wasn’t an easy task, but Prakash Jha’s Rajneeti has not just tried to explore these complex emotions but has also tried to dwell deeper into politics.

Through this film I once again got to understand our country’s politics. I’ll talk about the film first. When Prakash Jha called me to do Rajneeti, I had numerous apprehensions regarding the film. Making a serious and commercial film on politics wasn’t an easy task after all. But the way he portrayed his life’s experience as a director, as a social servant, as a person and as a knowledge holder of politics on screen, the effort is truly commendable. In the movie, the viewers will have a glimpse of some characters from the epic Mahabharat. These characters will be seen tangled in conflicts and duality in the film. Working in this film was a beautiful experience; an experience that lives the dream of an actor both, on and off screen.
My purpose here is not to praise my movie, but I would like to mention here that everything went as planned and on schedule. I would like to give an example in support. To make a crowd sequence look real, a crowd of about ten thousand people was gathered in Bhopal. Training them and taking care of them went so smoothly that thinking of it now I hardy believe that everything was accomplished easily. Later, I got to know that this huge group of ten thousand people was actually trained for about 8 months before the actual shooting. Today when I am done with my film’s dubbing I feel that I have done something big and consequential.

During the making of Rajneeti, I found myself surrounded with political characters, and that’s when some political thinking in me began which questioned why India’s polity has steeped so low? Is India’s politics progressing towards its goal? Why do the politicians find it difficult to connect with the masses? And why are they not uncomfortable being accused of scams and scandals? Do we common people not want some extreme changes to happen in the present day political system?

But in the end, it’s not about the politicians or the politics; it’s about the common people. Democracy has rendered common people with a very strong weapon which has the power to bend even the hardest of politicians. And that weapon is VOTE. The problem is that the common people for their self motives let themselves get cheated in the hands of these politicians and they don’t even realize something like this happening. Or they sometimes do but they choose to sit silently and do nothing about it. The present system has made the citizens passive, which should be changed. People don’t want to change the system, they want to be a part of it and that’s where the problem lies.

While shooting for the film, I also thought whether or not the film would be effective in reflecting an image to the politicians. Would the masses be able to learn about the political tactics often used by politicians? If Rajneeti is able to do so, I’ll be a proud person. But if people refuse to see the meaning behind the film, why should the film only be blamed for not being able to bring a change in the society? I think, Rajneeti will do its work; it’ll entertain people, make them cry, make them laugh and importantly, make them understand. Rajneeti will make the viewers question those things that they either missed out of ignorance or couldn’t understand themselves. But the willingness to understand would totally depend on them. There’s a lot to learn and a lot to know. From my experience as an actor I can only say that this film would be the first film ever to deeply question politics in India.

Well, It's enough for now...I think

It's your's and only your's
Manoj Bajpayee

New Year Resolution

First of all, best wishes to all of you for the New Year. I was busy elsewhere- sometimes in shootings at Delhi, Mumbai Mahabaleshwar or Hyderabad and in other works on other occasions, and could not post my blog on 1st January. Cold in Delhi was unbearable, but I had to stay for just three days. Still, I could not stop myself from sympathising with the people who are living in the capital city.

So far as climate is concerned, it's time for some blame-games. It's not only individuals, even countries are trying to put blame on others for increasing global warming. The final outcome is that there still is no way out of this hazardous problem. But the problem which is sure to fall us, will affect everybody and has even started affecting us.

They kept crying- stop plastic, plant trees, stop pollution, find a substitute of carbon-emitting vehicles, but who cares! Everyone has his own selfish interests to look after. Be it a factory owner or a common consumer, all of them are busy cleaning their own houses. They prefer to keep their windows close to stop the stench entering their house. And now a days, it's not hard to find perfumes of different varieties to keep the home fresh. But the problem which has already started taking wings, will soon take monstrous propositions. What can be a way out of this hazardous issue? Time will not be on our side to think over it, if we don't do so now. It's time to awake now. May be, you can save yourself and this world. May be, this is the resolution we need to take in this new year.

Rest in next...
It's your's and only your's
Manoj Bajpayee