Manoj Bajpayee on Jaideep Ahlawat's Growth: 'Talent Doesn't Mean Anything if the Choices Aren't Good'

Manoj Bajpayee and Jaideep Ahlawat are among the finest actors in the country. They're also fine, funny men who look out for one another. Though their careers took off at different times — Bajpayee, 56, is Ahlawat's senior by a decade — they've shared a warm, constant synergy. In Bedabrata Pain's Chittagong (2012), Ahlawat was quietly impactful as one of the comrades of Surya Sen, the firebrand Bengali revolutionary played by Bajpayee. The same year, Anurag Kashyap made the inspired choice of casting Ahlawat as Bajpayee's father in Gangs of Wasseypur, one of the most influential Hindi films of the 21st century. Ahlawat's early death in the film sets the whole bloody affair in motion.

As the years progressed, both Bajpayee and Ahlawat became household names on streaming. They seemed to receive their dues in the format, pocketing multi-crore cheques and headlining wildly popular shows like The Family Man and Pataal Lok. If Ahlawat can knock our socks off as Hathiram Chaudhary while also dancing mematically in Jewel Thief, he is channelling the same malleability and candour exemplified by Bajpayee (who has his own viral dance memes).

And now, finally, there's a proper match-up. In The Family Man season 3, set to stream from November 21, Ahlawat squares off against Bajpayee as the hulking, long-haired antagonist. The actor plays Rukma, a drug lord and mercenary stirring up trouble in the northeast. Created by Raj and DK, the premier spy series has decamped to Nagaland—incidentally, also the setting of the last season of Paatal Lok starring Ahlawat. To paraphrase the title of another Prime Video series, it feels like a match made in heaven.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, Bajpayee says he's closely followed Ahlawat's growth as an actor.

"Jaideep, Vijay Varma and Rajkummar Rao come from the same batch of FTII. All three of them were in Chittagong. I've seen them partying together and mostly avoiding my presence (laughs). They used to be very quiet whenever I was around. But from there to Wasseypur to now, they have become far more comfortable in their skin. They are supremely confident performers now."

He commends the new generation of actors for their choices. "Acting is not about how talented you are but how well you choose. Talent doesn't mean anything if the choices are not good."

Ahlawat, for his part, was delighted to work with Bajpayee after 13 years. Duking it out in the hills of Nagaland, the duo bonded uproariously. "There's an epic fight sequence between us," Ahlawat shares. "It was shot at night in single takes. We were so tired by the end of it, I told Manoj bhai to tear off my wig so they would stop the shoot (laughs)."

Now that Ahlawat has played the baddie in The Family Man, will Bajpayee return the courtesy in Paatal Lok 3? Imagine Hathiram Chaudhary going up against a ruthless kingpin or serial killer in the person of Bajpayee.

"That's a brilliant idea," Ahlawat enthuses.

"Kamal ho jayega (it will work wonders)," Bajpayee agrees.