Manoj Bajpayee has delivered a scathing assessment of the support for independent cinema and artists in India. Speaking at the ongoing International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, the multiple National Award-winner addressed how streaming platforms also don't offer support to independent content, and his realisation that the film industry wasn't doing justice to talent.

Manoj Bajpayee on independent cinema

On Thursday, the opening day of IFFI 2024, Manoj addressed the gathering in a masterclass. He said that non-mainstream cinema in India is in a flux. “We are at our lowest right now. We thought there is a strong platform for independent cinema, but now even the OTT platforms have stopped welcoming that kind of creativity,” said the actor, adding, “We are living in a time of uncertainty. It kind of reflects everywhere. One day, independent cinema will rise again. Independent cinemas are the only kind of cinema that is staying true to the definition of cinema as an art.”.

The actor also addressed how he arrived at a crossroads in his career over two decades after he began. “When I was doing Gangs Of Wasseypur, I realised that this industry is not going to give me what I want. They weren’t writing the scripts that I wanted and not giving opportunities to the talents who have it in them. That’s when I realised I have to look for my own directors and scripts or you just wait for eternity for that one script to happen to you, and I was desperate,” said the actor.

Manoj added that he watched many short films and found new filmmakers like Dipesh Jain (Gali Guleiyan) and Kanu Bahl (Despatch). “As an actor, mainstream films are not something I prefer; they put you into one kind of genre,” he added.

Manoj Bajpayee's recent work

Manoj had four releases in 2024: the Netflix dark comedy Killer Soup, Raam Reddy's The Fable, the police procedural Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout, and his first action film as lead, Bhaiyyaji. He is set to reprise his role of Srikant Tiwari in the third season of The Family Man, which is rumoured to be slated for release in 2025.

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