Acting is the hardest job in the world'

Manoj Bajpayee in conversation with Sudhir Srinivasan, Executive Editor (Entertainment), TN/E, who was invited to moderate the session, Mastering the Unseen, at the 55th International Film Festival of India in Goa

- SUDHIR SRINIVASAN

THERE'S a particular pleasure in engaging with a mind like Manoj Bajpayee's a precision in his responses that doesn't veer into the perfunctory, an introspection that feels inviting. So, when the 55th International Film Festival of India invited me to moderate a conversation with him, it felt like an opportunity to both savour and share. At the session titled Mastering the Unseen at the packed Kala Academy, on Thursday, Manoj held forth on the art of acting, his aversion to the trappings of stardom, and his enduring commitment to indie cinema.

'Silence, hard to master'

He began with dialogue - the lifeblood of cinema, the thread that connects characters and binds stories. "I think my understanding of dialogue began with an obsession for poetry recitation as a child. That's when I realised every word carries weight, every line holds rhythm and music," he shared. Yet, his confidence was shattered in acting school when a teacher berated him for failing at even the basics, suggesting he showed no understanding of pitch and rhythm. Where others might have resigned in despondency, Manoj sought instructions from unlikely sources, embracing every fragment of advice he could find. "One mentor told me to read Sanskrit literature aloud; another helped me see the invisible threads that connect ideas in even the worst scripts. Over time, I have learned that the hardest dialogue to master is silence," he says.