Manoj Bajpayee: I keep reading scripts to clear my nervousness before shooting

Despite doing several films in a career spanning over 25 years, actor Manoj Bajpayee says he feels nervous before shooting for any new project. In an interview with ANI, the versatile artist spoke about his acting process and how he overcomes his anxiety before the shoot begins.

“Script plays an important role in every film. I follow my script very seriously. I keep reading it. I just keep making notes to remind myself about all the scenes. I follow those scripts. Thrilled, the ones I agree to work on. I keep going. Through this until I know it in retrospect and know each scene. I always get nervous before shooting… so that I keep reading my scripts to get rid of the panic,” he said.

Manoj also shared that he enjoys the process of getting into the skin of a character more than the actual shoot. “I love the whole process of getting into my character. My process is very comprehensive. I annoy my directors by asking them I don’t know how many questions. I like to ask questions. I like to go deep into my script. So I try to follow this process with every film.”

Hailing from a small town in Bihar, Manoj shifted to Delhi to study and then moved to Mumbai to make his mark. It was his role of a gangster in ‘Satya’ that helped him to taste success and then ‘Shool’, ‘Zubaida’, ‘Pinjar’, ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’, ‘Traffic’, ‘Rajneeti’ and ‘Aligarh’. Worked in films like ‘ He has proved his versatility time and again.

Currently, he is basking in the success of his back-to-back OTT shows and films like ‘The Family Man’, ‘Ray’ and the latest ZEE5 thriller ‘Dial 100’. According to the 52-year-old actor, OTT is a boon.

“There are so many great actors who are working on OTT. Their performances are so amazing that I keep learning a thing or two from them. Also, over the years our industry was making films that didn’t accommodate so many actors. But OTT has changed this. It’s a blessing for every department,” he shared.

Coming back to his latest digital project, ‘Dial 100’ features Manoj as a police officer who gets an emergency call. Neena GuptaThe character of Seema Pallava. As Manoj tries to help Neena, he soon realizes their past association has now put his wife (Sakshi Tanwar) and their son in danger.

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