Manish Chaudhari is one actor who can perform heroic as well as negative roles with conviction. His career includes films like Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year, Aarya, Bombay Begums, Shoorveer, Batla House, Satyameva Jayate, URI, Mohenjo Daro, Sanam Teri Kasam and many more. The actor is currently seen in the recent release The Ghost alongside Nagarjuna, and Sonal Chauhan. In an exclusive interview with Team MissMalini, Manish shares his thoughts about working with Nagarjuna, the OTT boom, his inspirations and lots more.
But before going further, here’s a look at the trailer of his film:
Check out the excerpts of our conversation:
On getting attracted towards a project, Manish said…
I have a great desire to act, if somebody gives me a part. I think like, oh, I got a chance to act again. That is the first charm, that you continue to be a working actor. The parts that have been coming to me have been really exciting in the last 3-4 years especially. Rocket Singh came out in 2009, a few years went by and the industry really didn’t know what to do with me. It took 3-4 years to sort that out. When the OTT boom began then things turned. The range has been wide, there have been heroic parts, there came Aarya where I did a villain’s role, In Batla House and Shoor Veer, I did a heroic character. Now with Ghost, I am back again to the villainous character. It’s a mixed bag.
On his inspirations in cinema, Manish shared…
I have been inspired by Pran saab, Amjad Khan.
On the most challenging character, the actor stated…
Actually I enjoy the roles so much that whatever difficulties there are just get sucked into the fun of it. The Telugu film with Nagarjuna sir that I just did, it came as a massive challenge. Especially while dubbing for it in Telugu. Praveen Sattaru, our director, insisted that I should try it out. The character comes from outside Telangana. He said a Telugu speaking artist won’t be able to justify it. But he was very helpful in the process. His assistant spent five days with me in the studio. It worked out really well, but it was a massive challenge.
On working with Nargarjuna, Manish said…
Nag sir is an outstanding person. My generation has been his fan since his film Shiva released. After I watched him in that film I was like I want to be like him. After 30 years of watching Shiva, I actually managed to be on a set with him. He is such a lovely guy to chat with and to work with. I was in awe of him constantly throughout the shoot. He makes you feel at ease.
While his opinion about OTT, Manish shared…
The balance of OTT and films have been very special in my career. I am fortunate to be working in this time where a new platform has come up to push the work forward. Few years ago, there were no roles written for middle aged actors or actresses over 40. And now we have all these actresses coming back, Sushmita Sen In Aarya and Neena ji in films and OTT. So it’s lovely to see that age group play central characters in a project. About 20 years back, we used to wait 5-6 months for work but now young actors, who come to town within the first month they have work. The quantity of work in OTT is wonderful. Having said that, one should also keep a check on quality.
Manish will be next seen on a Netflix series with Sudip Sharma, the creator of Pataal Lok with Clean Slate Filmz.