Manoj Bajpayee

Samantha's transformation for 'The Family Man' is mind-blowing

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Manoj Bajpayee has been Mwinning hearts with his performance as Srikant Tiwari, a senior officer with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) of India. ‘The Family Man’ was renewed for a second season and fans are showering love on the espionage thriller which marks the debut of South sensation Samantha Akkineni in a digital show as well. In an exclusive interaction with ETimes, Manoj Bajpayee spills the beans on his much-loved character from ‘The Family Man Season 2’, shares his experience of working with Samantha, and talks about a new wave of success on OTT. Excerpts:

What sort of similarities do you share with the character of Srikant? It seems like you fit into the skin of your character with ease. I don't know why everyone is so curious about it, but I know I am an actor. My job is not just to get myself into it, it is not necessary that an actor has to be the character. Yes, I derive some references from my life, but mostly the portrayal comes from all the experiences or the people that you've known or the books that you've read. Also many times, you get your imagination into it and you get your interpretation from that. So Srikant Tiwari is a mix, his persona stems from many of my friends, he has a little bit of me, he has a little bit of my imagination, and mostly, the interpretation of how I wanted him to look and behave. Some part of that portrayal also comes from the director’s vision.

How was the experience of working with Samantha?