Manoj Bajpayee says ‘dividing cinema into regions is not fair’: ‘India is from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, not from Kashmir to Delhi’

Actor Manoj Bajpayee’s acclaimed web series The Family Man had found takers across the country. In a recent interview, Manoj was asked about the growing fad of ‘pan Indian cinema’ that has caught on after the success of the Baahubali franchise. While very few films have successfully managed to capitalise on that hype, the recent success of RRR, KGF and Pushpa: The Rise have made Hindi cinema aware that they have big competition.

Manoj said that for him “it has never been north or south” as he has worked in Tamil and Telugu films, and is in talks with a few filmmakers in Kolkata. “For me, India is from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and not from Kashmir to Delhi. That’s how I see India. If Telugu films do well, I will be just as proud as when a Hindi film does well. Dividing cinema into regions is not fair. Good that this discussion has started because we are now coming to a conclusion that cinema belongs to everyone in India,” he told ETimes.

Manoj Bajpayee added that any film which is dubbed into several languages could be termed as pan-Indian. He said that while choosing his projects, he always thinks about his viewer who could be in any part of the country. “Whenever I have chosen a film, I have always thought that my audience is everywhere. When The Family Man found its audience in all parts of the country, I felt very fortunate. People who speak different languages watched Family Man, and they liked it. And this is how it should be. Cinema does not belong to one region. Cinema belongs to everyone,” he said.

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The Family Man boasts of actors from different regions of India. The show does not make them speak Hindi for the convenience of the audience but instead relies on subtitles, making it truly pan-Indian. The Family Season 3 is currently in the making.

It was recently rumoured that Manoj Bajpayee will be a part of Allu Arjun’s Pushpa 2. However, the actor denied the rumours.