Actor Manoj Bajpayee has expressed his disappointment in the lack of support for independent films in India. On Thursday, at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), held in Goa, the 55-year-old said, that even though we have streaming platforms that can support independent films, the OTT platforms only display content that they think will be a commercial success.
“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.”
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“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,” he added.
Bajpayee also went on to explain that, when he starred in Gangs Of Wasseypur, which is widely considered his best performance till date, he understood that if he wanted a script that he liked, he would have to go hunting for them, instead of being given one.
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“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.”
This year, Bajpayee had three releases, Raam Reddy's The Fable, which made history by becoming the first Indian film to bag the Best Film award at the Leeds International Film Festival 2024. He also starred in mystery-thriller Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout and Deepak Kingrani's Bhaiyaa Ji.
His new film Despatch will release on December 13 on ZEE5, and is also set to reprise his role of Srikant Tiwari in the third season of The Family Man, slated for a 2025 release.
