Acclaimed actor Manoj Bajpayee opened up about his views on film awards, calling the ongoing debate around recognition a “loser conversation”.
In an exclusive conversation with India Today, the actor talked about how awards are just a piece of decoration.
Manoj Bajpayee Dismisses Award Talks, Says ‘It’s Just a Piece of Decoration’
“It is a useless conversation because it is gone,” Manoj Bajpayee said when asked about the discussion surrounding whether certain films had been overlooked. “When it comes to ‘Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai’, yes, it is a very special film in my filmography, and so was ‘Joram’. They are going to be on top of my filmography. But I don’t discuss these things because it is a very loser conversation. It is in the past, and it should be left alone.”
Having already won the National Film Award four times, Bajpayee didn’t hold back in expressing his concerns about how awards are managed across the industry.
“It’s not just about national awards. It’s about all the awards that were revered. They should seriously think about how they are operating. Because it is not about my respect, I take care of my respect very cautiously when I am choosing a film, and I am very responsible to the actor that I am. But each and every organisation has to think of itself, that’s not my job. If somebody else is losing their respect, they should think about it,” he said.
The actor went on to question the very structure of award systems. “For me, the whole award system, the idea of it is wrong. There are four great performances in different genres altogether. You cannot compare four great performances coming from four different genres of films competing with each other. You cannot. The challenges or the requirements were very, very different. So all of them are great, but you are deciding to give one person the award. That is your setup. That is your system, which is good,” he added.
Known for his grounded perspective, Bajpayee also shared how he personally views awards: “If I get an award, believe me, I will make sure that I have a good time with the people involved with the film. And that is it. It is just a matter of… it is just a piece of decoration in your house. After that, I can’t just make sure to stand in front of my award every day and say ‘Wow, I got this’.”
He concluded with a sharp focus on work over accolades: “If I start giving value to that honour very seriously, then there is something wrong with me because there is a job right in front of me which is going to happen tomorrow. Chinmay (director of ‘Inspector Zende’) will be expecting me at seven in the morning for the shot. I can’t afford to miss that, thinking about what I won last night. So that’s how I look at it. And I personally think that you should not be taking these things very seriously in your life.”
Manoj Bajpayee was last seen in ‘Inspector Zende’.