This week’s episode of The Right Angle with Sonal Kalra brought on board powerhouse of talent, actor Manoj Bajpayee. Between speaking about his latest role in and as Inspector Zende (now on OTT) and what drives his creativity and passion in the industry, the actor was asked what his advice would be to the next generation of actors, many of whom are very well aspiring to emulate his success — ‘be the next Manoj Bajpayee’.

And to that Manoj had the realest no frills response. He said, “I was crazy about acting when I was 10 years old and I’m crazy about it even today. I am not giving any ‘gyaan’ or advice, nobody wants that…I have been passionate about acting ever since I was 10 years old”.

Speaking about how he is still very much hungry for path breaking roles (even though at this point he has several to his name), he chuckled, “Today too, I feel every great role should only come to me and go to no one else. That being said, the passion for your work must always be present”, adding, “If you want to buy a nice car, live in a nice house, wear good clothes, tour the world through your acting, then I’d say don’t go for it. Because the ratio of people that achieve that is very less”.

His parting shot? “If you want to act because without it you might die, then do come”, he concluded.

A real actor, passionate about the craft will make peace with his medium. And that’s what Manoj highlighted when it came to discussing the merits of OTT. He reflected, “The next generation of actors…they all have a lifestyle today. All of them are leading a dream life, where they’ve been doing the kind of projects they want to, they’re getting the money, they’re busy and they have respect too. So much talent can only be consumed by a medium like OTT”.

The bottom line — if there’s passion, there’s always a way.