Manoj Bajpayee: ‘Shool’ has become quite a game changer

Mumbai: National Award-winning actor Manoj Bajpayee is all set to play a police officer in the upcoming thriller “Silence… Can You Hear It?” He recalls playing a cop in the 1999 film “Shool”, a film he believes became a game changer.

E. Niwas’ “Shool” cast him as Inspector Samar. Talking about playing the cop, Manoj said: “I have played a cop’s role in my 26 years of career more than twice and I’ve enjoyed it every time. ‘Shool’ has become quite a gamechanger and has become a cult film in its own right. It has shown a lot of realism about the condition in which policemen work in our country. People related with it — with the policeman, the husband, the father and even the son.”

Manoj added: “I’ve met so many people, actors and filmmakers who have watched Shool at least once a week! We didn’t know how popular it would become when we were making it. ACP Avinash Verma in this film is very different. He is more brain than brawn professionally, and personally he has his own issues. He is estranged with his wife and wants his daughter to stay with him.”

His new cop role is in “Silence… Can You Hear It?”, directed by Aban Bharucha Deohans. The film also stars Barkha Singh, Sahil Vaid, Vaquar, Shirish Sharma, Sohaila Kapoor, Amit Thakkar and Garima Yagnik, and premieres on March 26 on Zee5.