Mumbai:
Actor Manoj Bajpai, who plays the lead in Anurag Kashyap's Gangs of Wasseypur, says he hadonce thought of turning producer for Kashyap's unreleased project Paanch.
After writing many path breaking scripts, Kashyap was supposed to make his debut as a director with Paanch in 2003but the film ran into trouble with the Censor board and has not been released till date. It was loosely based on the1976-77 Joshi-Abhyankar serial murders in Pune.
"That was the time when I was not just planning to act in Anurag's Paanch but also co-produce. He had written threecareer changing films for me - Satya, Kaun, Shool - and I knew this guy would go a long way. He narrated Paanch tome and I loved it," Bajpai said.
Some misunderstandings developed between the two after that and they did not work with each other for quite some time.
The 43-year-old actor, known for playing offbeat and unconventional roles, said he reunited with the filmmaker forGangs of Wasseypur over an emotional encounter.
"Anurag called me one night and he told me about a script that he had for me. He wanted to narrate it a day or two laterbut I insisted to have the narration on the same night. I drove for Anurag's place and he narrated Gangs of Wasseypur to me. I gave my consent to the part," he said.
Manoj insisted the title of the film did not attract him to be a part of it, he signed it for Kashyap.
"I am not known for signing a film mainly by the attractiveness of a title. Anurag was one of the biggestreasons for me to have done the film. For all that matters, he could have titled the film anything and I would still havebeen a part of it," he added.
Gangs of Wasseypur was screened at Cannes this year and Manoj, who is currently shooting for Prakash Jha's Chakravyuh, said that he somehow managed his time to be a part of the international film festival. Soon after the screening at Cannes, I had to rush to the airport and catch the next flight to Mumbai. From there I took an immediate flight to Bhopal and then a five-hour road trip to Pachmarhi.The entire journey from India to Cannes and then back was covered in two days flat which can be back breaking foranyone. Still, it was worth it since I just wanted to be a part of this celebration. Prakash Jha too was really sweet to accommodate thistrip, that too in the middle of his film's shoot," Bajpai said.
Gangs of Wasseypur boasts of a massive cast comprising Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Piyush Mishra, Reema Sen, Richa Chadda,Huma Qureshi, Yashpal Sharma, Raj Kumar Yadav and Tigmanshu Dhulia. The first part hit theatres on Friday.
After writing many path breaking scripts, Kashyap was supposed to make his debut as a director with Paanch in 2003but the film ran into trouble with the Censor board and has not been released till date. It was loosely based on the1976-77 Joshi-Abhyankar serial murders in Pune.
"That was the time when I was not just planning to act in Anurag's Paanch but also co-produce. He had written threecareer changing films for me - Satya, Kaun, Shool - and I knew this guy would go a long way. He narrated Paanch tome and I loved it," Bajpai said.
Some misunderstandings developed between the two after that and they did not work with each other for quite some time.
The 43-year-old actor, known for playing offbeat and unconventional roles, said he reunited with the filmmaker forGangs of Wasseypur over an emotional encounter.
"Anurag called me one night and he told me about a script that he had for me. He wanted to narrate it a day or two laterbut I insisted to have the narration on the same night. I drove for Anurag's place and he narrated Gangs of Wasseypur to me. I gave my consent to the part," he said.
Manoj insisted the title of the film did not attract him to be a part of it, he signed it for Kashyap.
"I am not known for signing a film mainly by the attractiveness of a title. Anurag was one of the biggestreasons for me to have done the film. For all that matters, he could have titled the film anything and I would still havebeen a part of it," he added.
Gangs of Wasseypur was screened at Cannes this year and Manoj, who is currently shooting for Prakash Jha's Chakravyuh, said that he somehow managed his time to be a part of the international film festival. Soon after the screening at Cannes, I had to rush to the airport and catch the next flight to Mumbai. From there I took an immediate flight to Bhopal and then a five-hour road trip to Pachmarhi.The entire journey from India to Cannes and then back was covered in two days flat which can be back breaking foranyone. Still, it was worth it since I just wanted to be a part of this celebration. Prakash Jha too was really sweet to accommodate thistrip, that too in the middle of his film's shoot," Bajpai said.
Gangs of Wasseypur boasts of a massive cast comprising Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Piyush Mishra, Reema Sen, Richa Chadda,Huma Qureshi, Yashpal Sharma, Raj Kumar Yadav and Tigmanshu Dhulia. The first part hit theatres on Friday.
