The film was a difficult journey: Manoj Bajpayee
Be it his breakthrough role in Satya (1998) or his role in other films such as Pinjar (2003), Gangs of Wasseypur (2012) or Aligarh (2016), Manoj Bajpayee has portrayed challenging roles with finesse. And now the National Award winning actor has more than one reason to celebrate for the way things are shaping up for him. Manoj, who was in Cannes to promote his upcoming venture Bhonsle, got striking reviews when the makers unveiled the first look of the film to an international audience present during the event. The other reason for him to celebrate is the Best Actor Award that he bagged at the New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) for Gali Guleiyan.
Gali Guleiyan (In the Shadows) explores the roots of paranoia. The thriller is a psychological drama about a man who is trapped within four walls and in his own mind, and attempts to break free to find a human connection.
Expressing his delight on winning the award, Manoj says, “When we didn’t get an award for Aligarh (2016), Hansal (Mehta, film-maker) personally was very disappointed as Aligarh was a special film for both of us. NYIFF is a very prestigious award as Indian films are selected with great care and curation. This time, I’m happy that I got this award for a film which has been a difficult journey, a film that taught me the craft of acting which improved me as an actor as it threw a lot of challenges my way. I’m also happy for Dipesh Jain (director) whose hard work has paid off. It’s amazing to know that everyone acknowledged our film and my part in the film as an actor. It gives me immense pleasure that it has been received well by audiences around the globe,”