Being an actor is not just delivering dialogue assigned to you in front of the camera. It is about imbibing the character like a second skin and improvising occasionally to bring a touch of “in the moment” action and reaction. Our guest for this episode of Sunday Brunch X The Bombay Journey, Manoj Bajpayee, uses improvisation and hits the bull’s eye every time. Mashable India’s Siddharth Aalambayan and Manoj familiarised our Editor-in-Chief, Kamiya Jani, on this epic improvisation scene in Gangs of Wasseypur.
Manoj Bajpayee Improvised While Filming These Movies
While driving down the streets of Juhu, Mumbai, Kamiya recalled an epic reel format she told Siddharth to film with Manoj. It was the famous Sardar Khan’s “chabi kaha hai” clip from Gangs of Wasseypur! Siddharth asked Manoj if he would like to recreate this epic scene with him.
He replied, “Chabi kaha hai? Jaha hogi vahi hai,” and everyone burst into laughter. Then, it was brought to Manoj’s attention that Kamiya wasn’t aware that the real abusive follow-up dialogue said by his character in that film was an improvised move by the actor. He agreed and told her that all of it was improvisation and even the director, Anurag Kashyap, was on board with improvisations throughout the films.
Curious, we asked him about other films in which he improvised. He shared, “Satya, Kaun, Shool…jaha pa bhi Anurag rahega, vaha par improvisation bohot hoga.”
Also Read: Manoj Bajpayee Becomes Anxious In Flights. Here’s Why
This Is How Anurag Kashyap Helped Him Improvise In Gangs of Wasseypur
Manoj shared that when Anurag likes his actors to improvise, he really means it because he doesn’t provide any dialogue for that section of the film. Manoj emphasised that parts of those improvised scenes in the script would be empty. Anurag urges his actors to improvise with prior knowledge of how the cameras will work and a gist of what he is looking for in a particular scene.
He said, “Then humlog (actors) jaate hai and improvise karte hai. Jitni baar koi nai cheez end mein milti hai toh he is always welcome to it.” He added that almost all these last-moment improvisations are the ones that make it to the films. And that is how Anurag makes blockbuster films!
Also Read: Manoj Bajpayee Talks About How He Used To Find New Roles Before Making It Big In The Industry
Did you know that even Manoj’s scenes with a gun owner in the film were with a real gun dealer?
Cover Image Courtesy: Internal
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