Such is The Family Man effect that you can’t talk about it without it bringing a smile to your face. We can almost hear the smile in Manoj Bajpayee’s voice as he speaks about shooting the third season of Raj-DK’s spy thriller. “It’s shaping up great. I don’t want to be flamboyant. All I will say is that each day’s experience is making us feel that the third season will be far bigger and better,” he says.

Bajpayee has another reason to be happy. The actor achieved the milestone of 100 films with Bhaiyya Ji. After its theatrical release in May, the action thriller premièred on ZEE5 last week. Had he hoped for a better box-office outcome? “Let’s not even go by theatre viewing nowadays. It did remarkably well in single screens, but multiplexes didn’t see [high] footfall. That is the case with most films in multiplexes.”

One’s 100th film can be a good point to pause and assess their career. As he looks back at his three-decade journey in the movies, the actor says that filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt’s recent words stayed with him. “Bhatt saab said, ‘You achieved all of this even after being so choosy. It’s a great achievement.’ I chose my films with great care. Some of them went wrong, most went right. To complete 100 films in this cut-throat industry is a miracle in itself!”

Sticking to his convictions in an industry that only chases box-office success wasn’t easy. But Bajpayee marched to his own beat, building a robust filmography that boasted Satya (1998), Shool (1999), Gangs Of Wasseypur (2012) and Aligarh (2016). Today, he stands as a success story for aspiring actors, who want to headline meaningful stories.

“Today’s actors are at an advantage. They have come at a time when things have changed. Be it me, Irrfan or Kay Kay Menon, we had it tough. We somehow navigated and found our way with stories and directors. We took a lot of beating before everything started changing. So, I envy these actors, who have come at a time when the choices are so many.”

The beating that Bajpayee took was not only professional. “I couldn’t spend time with my parents, and they passed on. You make these sacrifices when you’re chasing a dream.”

Mowgli, Bagheera, Baloo, Kaa and Shere Khan, the characters from The Jungle Book, may have found their voices in India. Sources say that Priyanka Chopra, Irrfan, Nana Patekar, Shefali Shah and Om Puri have reportedly agreed to dub for the live action feature's Hindi version.

PC is currently on a roll in the West. Between shooting for Quantico and Baywatch, our desi supergirl is also the first choice when it comes to dubbing for popular animation characters.

Earlier, she was the voice of Ishani in Planes, a 2013 animation film. Now, in The Jungle Book, she is all set to be Kaa, the sultry python, who has been essayed by Scarlett Johansson in the original. While Bill Murray has lent his voice to Baloo, the friendly bear, Irrfan will do the same back home.

Shefali Shah will be Raksha, the wolf, portrayed by Lupita Nyong'o in the Hollywood film. And guess what? Om Puri and Ben Kingsley are Bagheera, the panther, in the Hindi and English versions respectively. There is more. Nana Patekar will be the cavernous tone of Shere Khan, the tiger and self-professed ruler of the jungle, played by Idris Elba in the original.