‘Industry has a bad reputation and karma’: Manoj Bajpayee says Bollywood has ‘ruined’ talented actors, admits only 25% of his potential has been used

Manoj Bajpayee reflected on his own career and why he believes filmmakers have yet to make full use of his acting abilities.

After years of delivering memorable performances, Manoj Bajpayee feels he has barely scratched the surface of what he can do as an actor. He has criticised Bollywood for repeatedly typecasting performers, arguing that many gifted actors have been denied the roles and recognition they deserved. Speaking ahead of the release of his upcoming Netflix film Gajab Raat, formerly titled Ghooskhor Pandat, Manoj reflected on his career and why he believes filmmakers have yet to fully harness his acting abilities.

‘We have ruined talents’: Manoj Bajpayee calls out Bollywood’s typecasting, says only 25% of his talent was used.

What the actor said about Bollywood

Speaking to Zoom, Manoj Bajpayee spoke about how actors can get stuck playing the same kind of characters, leaving little room to explore their range. He feels the industry has let many gifted performers slip away without giving them the recognition or opportunities they deserved. Reflecting on his own journey, the actor admitted that he, too, believes much of his potential remains untapped.

“Stereotyping is for many actors, and we have ruined talents just by doing that in this industry. I have always maintained that this industry has a bad reputation and bad karma of demolishing such great talents by reducing them to nothing on the set, in terms of the roles, in terms of the treatment that they have given to them. Many of the people went away, withered away without any recognition. I have always maintained that only 25 percent of my acting abilities have been used; there’s a lot. But I think that’s an actor’s greed or an actor’s hunger, and I am very happy that the fire is still burning in the belly,” he said.

Manoj Bajpayee credits OTT with changing the industry

While Manoj remains critical of the way Bollywood has treated actors in the past, he believes the arrival of streaming platforms has brought a significant change. He said OTT has encouraged viewers to pay closer attention to performances and storytelling, making them more vocal about what works and what does not.

"Mainly after the emergence of OTT here, things have changed drastically and we should always thank the coming of OTT in our country, and the families are watching. They can easily point it out and they talk about it in detail," he added.

Manoj Bajpayee reunites with Neeraj Pandey for Gajab Raat

Manoj will next appear in Gajab Raat, reuniting with filmmaker Neeraj Pandey nearly a decade after working together on Aiyaary and the short film Ouch.

Produced by Friday Film Works, the thriller is directed by Ritesh Shah and takes place over a single night. The story follows a police officer torn between personal interests and his duty, as one decision sets off a series of events with serious consequences. The film marks Ritesh’s debut as a director and also stars Saqib Saleem, Akshay Oberoi, Divya Dutta, Kiku Sharda, Nushrratt Bharuccha and Shraddha Das. Gajab Raat will premiere globally on Netflix on October 23.