Manoj Joshi who had won the national award for his performance in the Marathi film Dashakriya has given yet another superlative performance in the recently released film Mantra. In this freewheeling interview at the music launch of the film, MANOJ JOSHI tells JYOTHI VENKATESH that he is planning to turn a director with a Gujarati film by July this year.
In the first place, how will you describe yourself as an actor?
I am an actor who is at ease whether it is a Hindi film or a Marathi film or for that matter a Gujarati film. As an actor, I can get into any mould and do not like to get typed with any particular image as such. I’d hate to be referred to only as a comedian because I feel and I have also proved that I can play diverse roles in films of diverse genres. By birth I am a Gujarati, and my karam bhoomi is Maharashtra.
You have been acclaimed for your award-winning portrayal in the recently released film Mantra. Comment!
I played a very ideological character in Mantra. With my sole exception, eight generations of my family knew Sanskrit well and were all well versed in ved shastras. People in fact used to call my grandfather Guruji
Are you a religious fanatic?
I am not at all a religious fanatic or a faggot because today religion is being used only to exploit people, though in the first place religion was meant to serve as a river bank to save people from committing atrocities. If the bank was not there, today water would not have reached its destination.
How tough or easy was it for you to get into the skin of your character in Mantra?
It was not very tough at all to do the role as I knew the psyche of my character which was in contrast with what I am in real life. My grandfather’s soul was in my role.
Did you attend workshops to prepare for your part in Mantra?
Though I am used to do five to six workshops in the theater as part of my five or six shows, as far as Mantra was concerned, as a seasoned actor, I was not required at all to take part in any workshop but was just briefed to be in a state of nirvana
Do you recall any memorable incident while shooting for the film Mantra?
I could not sleep at all after I shot for the climax since I was not happy with the way my portions were shot by the director. I felt that we needed to re-shoot the portions to make them better. I rang up the director Harshvardhan and asked him to reshoot the scenes and even offered to bear the cost of the re-shooting but he told me that he was glad that I said that I would bear the cost for the re-shoot but did not want me to spend on the reshooting.We reshot the scenes, which turned out to be tad better than the earlier shoot.
How was director Harshvardhan to work with, considering it is his debut as a director?
Harshvardhan is brilliant as far as his craft is concerned and extracted whatever he wanted from me. I am lucky that he chose me for the part in Mantra because I had actually played a similar role in my play Chanakya. I felt that Mantra was my own story and I was reliving my role.
You seem to have taken a contract of wrenching each and every award in recent times!
I do my work 100 per cent and till date I have never worked on any role of mine solely with the intention of bagging an award for acting, though my role in Dashakriya fetched me the national award for acting. My character in Mantra is quite different from the character that I played in Dashakriya. Though I am not into any contract to bag awards, I am extremely glad that I did not get the award from any paan or gutka manufacturers.
You are one of the formidable actors in Hindi Cinema too. What do you think of the scenario today?
For the last 4 or 5 years, I’d say that Hindi Cinema is seeing achche din with actors getting their dues like Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Irrfan Khan, Rajkummar Rao and Sanjay Mishra. It is good that many filmmakers today are keen on making content -oriented films with a lot of substance.
You seem to have stopped signing masala films!
There is no way I can say that I am not interested in doing pot boilers, as I feel that I have to continue to be a part of masala films in order to run my kitchen. Not every role that you get as an actor does give you a creative high.
How has been your journey as an actor till date?
I am happy with the way my career has progressed till date as an actor, whether on the stage or the screen. I have acted in 120 films in four different languages ever since I made my debut with Sarfarosh way back in 1999.
Which are your best films till date?
Hungama, Golmaal, Hansi To Phansi, Bhool Bhulaiya, Dashakriya etc are my five best films, besides Mantra of course. Among the Marathi films, I’d say that Narbachi Wadi and Bal Gandharva are also my favorites.
How is Marathi Cinema today?
The best thing about the Marathi films is that they are rooted to the soil and raw. Though they lack big budgets like Hindi films have today, it is credible that they make tremendous films which are out of the box and also innovative. Creatively Marathi films are rich.
What next?
Love Ratri produced by Salman Khan and Priyadarshan’s next Hindi film are in my kitty now, besides of course a Malayalam film for the first time in my career with Mohanlal in which I play his father. I am very excited because besides the fact that I am getting to rub shoulders with an actor of Mohanlal’s caliber, it is also happens to be my first Malayalam film till date as an actor.
You are quite busy in Gujarati films too!
Yes. I have acted in a Gujarati film called Fera Feri Hera Pheri, produced by my wife and my son, which is out and out commercial. I also plan to turn a director in July this year with a Gujarati film called Bhavai. It is based on Bhavai, a form of loknatya. It is about an art form and artistes who are slowly and steadily becoming extinct folk. I will also act in the film, with the local bhavais besides directing it.
