Kangana Ranaut’s remarks comparing Mumbai to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, and film industry’s drug row have been gaining a lot of traction from netizens and celebrities alike.
Gangs of Wasseypur actor Manoj Bajpayee, however, has dismissed Kangana’s remarks.
Scoffing at the idea of Mumbai being disrespected, Manoj told India Today – “Mumbai is a magical city. There’s magic here. Look at where I come from. Who am I? Where do I come from? People like me have made our villages, our districts, our towns, our friends and families proud. How? Because Mumbai brought magic to our lives.”
“We were given opportunities. And all of it happened because of Mumbai and the film industry.”
Talking further to India Today, Manoj Bajpayee also responded to the allegations of film industry being a drug cartel, saying that “this is a part of some vested interest.”
Manoj said – “I am not defending the industry. But this is very unfair. There are all kinds of people in the industry, I don’t know but it feels like there’s some sort of a vested interest behind all this.
I have had some bad experiences here, too. I have met some bad people, too. But, instead of feeling scared, I have dealt with them. I have fought them and I will continue to fight them. I have fought for others too and I will continue to keep fighting for them as well. The industry isn’t very different from any other sector, it is competitive, it is cutthroat, but we deal with it.
When you say there’s a drug cartel in the industry, someone watching TV in a remote part of India, looks at me and sees a warehouse full of drugs. He thinks I am Kancha Cheena (a drug-peddler character in the film Agneepath). When such a narrative is being run, it makes me believe that there’s possibly some vested interest behind this. There must be a very big reason behind it all.
I keep telling people that what you are being shown isn’t the whole truth. It is being shown for a reason, and you have to find out what that reason is.”
Talking about work front, Manoj Bajpayee has also been in the limelight for his Bhojpuri rap song on migrant workers, Bambai Main Ka Ba.
His web series ‘The Family Man 2’ is coming soon on Amazon Prime Video. Suraj Pe Mangal Bhaari, a Zee5 film, is also ready.
