Showing posts with label Kaun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kaun. Show all posts
Gen Z’s ‘Obsession’ with Urmila Matondkar leaves actor ‘completely blown away’
10:11 AM
Yashika Mathur (HINDUSTAN TIMES; June 13, 2026)
Actor Urmila Matondkar is enjoying an unexpected wave of love from a new generation of movie buffs. Following the success of the Hollywood psychological thriller Obsession, social media users have been drawing parallels with her acclaimed performances in Kaun (1999) and Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya (2001), sparking a fresh appreciation for the actor’s work.
The renewed buzz has left Matondkar overwhelmed: “Over the last few days, so many people have tagged me on social media. It’s just beautiful, honestly. It’s lovely to be acknowledged, even if it is 20 years later.” The actor believes those films and characters were ahead of their time.
“It’s amazing to see a younger generation, many of whom weren’t even born when these films released, connecting with them today. It has completely blown my mind,” she adds.
Having recently wrapped a web series, Matondkar admits the recognition feels especially rewarding as the films didn’t receive the industry response she had hoped for at the time: “I think it’s a big slap on the critics of the ’90s, with so many youngsters now remembering my performance.”
After Shool, people stopped offering me anything lesser than lead roles-Manoj Bajpayee
8:49 AM
Manoj Bajpayee on celebrating the silver jubilee of Shool and Kaun, and his ‘special connection’ with HT City
Sugandha Rawal (HINDUSTAN TIMES; March 2, 2024)
“Wow, it’s been 25 years! It doesn’t feel like that at all,” says an amused Manoj Bajpayee. Joining HT City’s silver jubilee celebration, the actor is excited to also celebrate his films Shool and Kaun (both 1999) reaching this milestone.
Looking back at his journey as an actor, Bajpayee says, “These films played an important part in my career. They gave me new respect [in Bollywood]. Shool showed the industry that Manoj is lead actor material. Before that, they saw me in supporting roles in Satya (1998) and Kaun. People stopped offering me anything lesser than that (lead roles). Shool is now a cult film.”
Shool saw him play a police officer navigating the politician-criminal nexus in Bihar, while Kaun was a suspense thriller. As both the films were vastly different from each other, the 54-year-old feels they gave him a perfect chance to show his versatility. “The audience saw me doing different things. These films and the response they got reassured me that I’m going in the right direction,” he ends.
The HT City connect
Before Shool was released, I was invited for a launch in Delhi. I remember HT City coming up [and talking] to me. There, I also met the late (actor) Rishi Kapoor, who said good things about the film. So, HT City is connected with my memory of Shool. I wish everyone at HT City all the best for the future.
25 Years of Kaun: Newcomers Manoj Bajpayee, Sushant Singh didn’t have as much to lose like I did-Urmila Matondkar
8:20 AM
As the film and HT City complete 25 years, the actor gets nostalgic
Mimansa Shekhar (HINDUSTAN TIMES; February 26, 2024)
As Urmila Matondkar’s Kaun? (1999) completes 25 years this year, the actor would like the film to have a re-release so people can enjoy it on the big screen, instead of their phones. Feeling nostalgic, she says, “It was a bunch of crazy people coming together, and I must have been the craziest of them all.”
Directed by Ram Gopal Varma, the film also starred Manoj Bajpayee and Sushant Singh. She was offered the film after establishing herself as the “Rangeela girl” in 1995. So, as an actor who had created an image for herself with “glitz and glamour” roles, taking up a horror film was a “major risk for both me and the makers”.
She adds, “Since Manoj and Sushant were comparatively newcomers, they didn’t really have as much to lose like I did.”
The psychological thriller was experimental, admits the 50-year-old: “We hardly had films in one closed space, actors in the same attire and in restricted frames.”
While the film had a mediocre run, Matondkar’s performance set a benchmark in the horror-thriller space in India. However, unlike today where film scripts are fixed in advance, the actor says, “There was no bound script. The film was being written on set and the makers would see how things unravelled as we performed.” She went on to act in several other horror/thriller movies like Deewangee (2002), Bhoot (2003), and Ek Hasina Thi (2004), among others.
This means she also had a lot of creative freedom on set to add nuances and make changes to her character at the last minute. “During one scene, I thought, ‘What if I don’t use the knife and just let my eyes do the acting before the dagger comes into the frame?’ When the camera rolled, my spot boy dropped everything he was holding and that’s when I realized I had nailed it,” the actor signed off.
We don’t have well-written psychological thrillers here because we don’t encourage good writers-Manoj Bajpayee
8:11 AM
Noting that industry shies away from psychological thrillers as they require clever writing, Manoj Bajpayee discusses the nuances of the genre as he fronts 'Dial 100'
Uma Ramasubramanian (MID-DAY; July 31, 2021)
Manoj Bajpayee is the happiest when he has a sharply written script in hand. He was deeply impressed with writer-director Rensil D’Silva’s vision of Dial 100, a taut thriller. Noting that psychological thrillers are hard to come by, he says, “We don’t have well-written psychological thrillers here because we don’t encourage good writers. What I like about the genre is that it is not dependent on the background score or editing; it’s the mind games that make the audience edgy.”
The ZEE5 film revolves around Bajpayee’s cop character who receives a mysterious call at the police control room from Seema Pallav, essayed by Neena Gupta, threatening to settle old scores with him. With the cat-and-mouse game spanning over a night, he agrees that it brought back memories of Ram Gopal Varma’s slick mystery thriller he had fronted. “It reminded me of Kaun [1999]. Both films play out over one night. That said, the two are completely different. Kaun was a psychological thriller while I would term Dial 100 an emotional thriller. It addresses certain teenage issues that need to be discussed in cinema.”
The actor is having a remarkable 2021 so far — where The Family Man 2 was lapped up by the audience, his performance in Netflix’s Ray received glowing reviews. For him though, the highlight of the year has been meeting Tamil superstar Vijay Sethupathi. “I want to work with Vijay,” says Bajpayee, his admiration for the actor evident in his remark. “When I went to Chennai to shoot for The Family Man 2, I wanted to meet a few directors and actors. As soon as I called him, he came to the shoot. We have mutual admiration. It’s great to appreciate your contemporaries; one should not get intimidated by others’ success or talent. Instead, you should push each other [to do better].”
Quiz him whether he is open to doing a Tamil film, and the actor says, “I can’t speak Tamil. If I get a film with a director of my choice, I will definitely work. I will have to learn the language because I am uncomfortable with the idea of somebody else dubbing for me.”
Banning and boycotting doesn’t do any good to any industry or any society-Manoj Bajpayee
8:03 AM
The actor feels creative liberty and dissent should be respected
Kavita Awaasthi (HINDUSTAN TIMES; February 25, 2021)
With the rise in content consumption on streaming platforms, Manoj Bajpayee is not only enjoying a successful ride on the web, but is also delighted by the fact that his older films are being rediscovered by audiences.
“The respect I’ve got over the years has grown and the emergence of OTT has added to it. Today, people are looking up my films, which is quite flattering. Many of my earlier releases are getting the attention that they didn’t get when they had released in theatres. Theatres, too, didn’t give these films enough shows or slots or the respect back then. Pinjar (2003) and Kaun (1999) have been favourites with viewers and even Satya (1998) and Shool (1999). Getting compliments even after so many years, is really inspiring and encouraging,” says Bajpayee.
With his hit web show, Family Man and the ongoing OTT boom, the Padma Shri awardee is elated that actors today have so many choices but cautions that they should choose wisely.
“Don’t rush. There are many exciting, interesting and out-of-the-box stories being offered to me, but I would never do anything for the heck of it,” he shares.
As he waits for the second season of his show to drop, ask him about the recent controversy with Tandav, and how makers ended up deleting some scenes and the kind of precedence it set, and he says, “I haven’t seen the show and if the makers have done it, it depends on them. I think people should be a little patient and forgiving when it comes to creative content. If they don’t agree with something they can voice their opinion, even encourage like-minded people not to watch it, but not ask for a ban or boycott. Banning and boycotting doesn’t do any good to any industry or any society. I am not in favour of it. There are many social media posts I don’t agree with but I don’t want them to be taken off as I believe a healthy debate and discourse is a sign of a healthy democracy,” says the two-time National Award winner.
His last film, Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari (2020) released in theatres and he will soon be seen in a web original film.
How important are box office numbers to him, as OTT doesn’t quite measure a film’s popularity on that benchmark? “I believe that each film should be should be measured on the basis of quality, not on how many crores it earned. This yardstick is ruining the intention of filmmaking in India. OTT has brought in a huge change and I hope it continues to create interesting content,” Bajpayee adds.
To say that I entered politics because my film career is over, is a petty way of looking at it-Urmila Matondkar
6:27 AM
Renuka Vyavahare (BOMBAY TIMES; May 21, 2019)
Versatile actress, skilled dancer, style icon and one of Bollywood’s original oomph queens, Urmila Matondkar — now a politician — is also an eloquent speaker. Fiercely private about her personal life, Urmila made an exception as she opened her heart and the doors of her beautiful house, in the city for us, for an uninhibited chat on politics, marriage, films and religion. Excerpts from the conversation:
Not many actors have been successful politicians. When you announced your foray into politics, many believed you did it since your movie career, too, was long over.
Yes, politics is not everyone’s cup of tea. But there were people like Sunil Dutt as well, who did well in politics. It’s the intention that matters. I can’t speak for others, who couldn’t sustain in politics, but I can speak for myself. I didn’t want to cash in on my celebrity image. If that was the intention, I wouldn’t have campaigned the way I did. I wouldn’t have gone out all the way to reach out to people. Whether I win or lose, I intend to do the work I have promised to do. To say that I entered politics because my film career is over, is a petty way of looking at it. There’s nothing that politics can give me that I didn’t have before. I don’t get swept by what people think as it reflects their intellect.
In 2016, you married Kashmiri model-turned-businessman Mohsin Akhtar Mir in a private ceremony. The wedding was a low-key affair and you went completely off the radar post it.
I don’t like to talk about my personal life. I was never on the radar. I have always been a reclusive actor, who has believed in letting my work speak for itself. I joined Instagram pretty late, that too, on my husband’s suggestion, who felt that this would be a great way to keep in touch with my fans. I have always been a private person, so even my marriage was a low-key affair.
How did you meet Mohsin and what drew you to him?
We met at Manish Malhotra’s (fashion designer) niece’s wedding. A lot of Kashmiri work that is used by Manish comes from Mohsin’s factory. He is into handicrafts and artwork of Kashmir, so he been working with Manish for many years now. That’s how they met and that’s how we met. He is confident, yet easy-going. Mohsin is sure of himself without being cocky about it and has those things which I feel are important in a companion. We hit it off instantly.
There was speculation over you converting to Islam after marriage, which didn’t turn out to be true.
That was in bad taste. That’s the kind of politics I don’t appreciate. First of all, how does it matter? The kind of person I am, I have always done things my way and with my head held high. I am proud of who I am, and I am not saying I am infallible, but I have never done things that I would be ashamed of. The kind of industry that I was in (films), it takes a lot to not be dragged into toxicity, backbiting, negativity, gossip and bitching. I have never done all of this, so this (religious conversion news) appalled me the most. I am a Hindu. That’s the religion I have followed, but I believe in Hinduism in a wider sense, not the kind of Hinduism that’s sold to us today. Even if I had converted to Islam, I would have said it with as much pride. However, it’s none of anyone’s business. I am not just talking about the secular fabric of the country because I am married to a Muslim. Contrary to that, because I always believed in it, I was open enough to marry a man of a different faith.
I wouldn’t have responded to these speculations and dignified them otherwise, but because I was a candidate contesting an election, it was my duty to clarify things. I owed it to the people. People ask me about being a Maharashtrian, a Mumbaikar and seeing others coming into the city. But that’s the beauty of it. Religion and region are secondary. I think humanity and Indianness are the only way to progress. The country needs to be in harmony.
It’s only now that people have discovered that you are an eloquent speaker.
Films were the most beautiful part of my life, but they were not the be-all and end-all of my life. People are surprised to know that I read a lot. I have been an excellent student and I come from an academically-oriented family. It’s my time to help those who supported me, irrespective of who I was, where I came from, or what my surname was. There came a chance and I took it up. Whether I win or lose, those who showed confidence in me, I will always stand by them.
Will we see you in the movies sometime soon?
I don’t think that acting in films is a possibility in the near future. Politics is a new field for me, and I have never done anything in a haphazard manner. Plus, it deals with people’s lives. I don’t want to do 50 things at a time.
You were an outsider when you joined the film industry. Do you think that the dialogue and debate about nepotism, which has unfolded over the last few years, should have happened before?
Certain things won’t change. If you have to make your way, you have to make your way. I never spoke about it then and I won’t speak about it now. These things only take away your energy and bring nothing to the table. I am not one of those people who make statements to be in the news. I am extremely happy and satisfied with the way I conducted my career and what I could achieve. I constantly stuck my neck out and did films and roles that were hugely unconventional. There may have been actresses of my era who were more successful than I was, but I doubt if anyone has shown the kind of range that I have, in terms of genres or characters that I chose.
You were a style icon in the ’90s. What do you make of fashion in Bollywood today with all the stylists and the PR machinery that goes with it?
I didn’t do it to make a statement. There is no negativity or bitterness for what’s happening today. I have said no to 50 Rangeelas after Rangeela and 50 Judaais after Judaai. I never repeated my characters. People were shocked to see the horror films that I did at the time. When Kaun didn’t do well, they told me not to continue with the genre, but I insisted that we shouldn’t doubt the intellect of the audience. As far as style is concerned, I find this whole thing (stylist-PR) a bit funny. Your personality needs to stand out, of course, if you have one. I genuinely feel that maybe it’s the need of the hour, but I can’t relate to this process.
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