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Manoj Bajpayee was not very eager to do Bhaiyya Ji.
"I had to really convince him," says Director Apoorva Singh Karki. "He has never played a true massy commercial action hero. This is his first in that genre after 99 films. We have tried to make a rooted hero film.
"People want rooted heroes. People want their heroes from next door, not from La La Land, something they can relate to. They want a universe they can relate to.
"As far as the rest is concerned it's not in our hands. This is an audience film and the fate depends on them, we can only work with honesty to serve them a good film," says Karki.
Karki wanted to see Manoj in this avatar. "I was surprised, no one thought of him like this. I truly love him as an actor and a person. I truly believe he is our desi superstar.
"He is the action hero born from our streets. I have always been fascinated by true blue commercial films. We have grown up watching those films and I always wanted to make them. I am truly passionate about them.
"Also I always want to do different genres. This was Manoj Sir's story. He wanted to make an independent cinema out of Bhaiyya Ji. I requested him to give it to me. I told him I wanted to make a commercial film. That's how Bhaiyya Ji happened."
Karki's previous collaboration with Manoj Sirf Ek Banda Kaafi Hai had an interesting journey from OTT to the big screen.
"We were truly overwhelmed. Me made a film with honesty. What happens to it is always a surprise. More importantly, the message that we wanted to deliver was taken well."
Karki is worried why Hindi cinema is not going into the heartland. "You look at South films, they are making more and more films based out of the rural heartland. It's high time that we speak from the common man's heart through our films."
