Manoj Bajpayee’s latest film, Jugnuma – The Fable, has received wide praise. From being the leading man of the successful OTT show, Family Man, Bajpayee has appeared in several widely popular projects. From Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur to his latest ‘Inspector Zhende,’ on Netflix, the OTT king has reigned on several screens throughout his career so far.
Opening about the “restless phase” he was going through in an interview with Just Too Filmy, Bajpayee had a candid conversation around ‘Jugnuma – The Fable’. He revealed that his visit to Neem Karoli Baba’s Kainchi Dham flipped the script for his tumultuous time.
‘I was going through a restless phase’
Bajpayee shared that director Ram Reddy and he, visited Kainchi Dham in Uttarakhand before they set on their journey to make ‘Jugnuma – The Fable’. “I was going through a very restless phase. I even thought maybe my time in this profession was up,” he said.
This came just before he made his mark with Family Man Season 1 and didn’t have work for nearly a year. “I didn’t work for a year. I was searching for answers. Ram said, ‘Let’s meet at Babaji’s cave,’ and he described his experience. Describing his experience, he shared that the duo climbed for an hour, practiced meditation, and termed what happened next as “magical”. Almost like an Eureka moment, they both agreed while coming down, “We found the film”.
The visit to Uttarakhand, for the actor, was not just for research. He described it as a spiritual journey. “That moment gave me the answers I was looking for. It was about detachment, about flying away from all attachments. I can’t explain it in words, but I felt it deeply,” he remarked in the interview.
About Manoj Bajpayee’s Jugnuma – The Fable
Based on spiritual themes at large, Bajpayee’s latest is based on detachment, liberation, and finding peace. He shared that it echoes the peace he experienced in Kainchi Dham. “The protagonist of this film goes through the same struggle. The more attached you are, the more problems you face,” Bajpayee explained the philosophy behind his film. ” I was his student, his actor, his elder brother — everything. But in truth, Kainchi Dham gave both of us the film,” he added.