Manoj Bajpayee had a rather intense 2023 with stellar performances in films like Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai and Joram. So, it is only fitting that an actor with his range kicks off 2024 with a role and genre diametrically opposite. The National Award-winner is returning to web series with Netflix’s Killer Soup, a dark comedy from the mind of Abhishek Chaubey, which has Manoj playing almost three different characters. In an exclusive chat with DNA, the actor talks about his role, the change in genre, and why the ‘triple role’ left him confused.
Killer Soup is the story of Swathi (Konkona Sen Sharma) who tries to replace her husband Prabhakar (Manoj) with her lover Umesh (also Manoj), his doppelganger. Talking about the challenges of playing these two characters simultaneously, Manoj says, “Actually there are three characters. There is Umesh, there is Prabhu, and then there is Umesh trying to be Prabhu. I like to be with one character, which is what most of us like to do, one story, one role at a time. But I didn’t have the luxury of doing that. In the morning, I am Prabhakar; in the afternoon, I am Umesh with the beard, and in the evening, I have my patch trying to be something else. And that made it made much more challenging because you are only given that much of window to really understand the scene from this person’s perspective and get into it.”
Manoj says he could not follow his usual process in Killer Soup because of the way the series was shot where he had to shoot as all three characters in one day at times. “It was not something very easy and I was always very unsure. Usually what happens is when I am preparing, I have a graph in my mind with a beginning, middle, and end. Here, I was confused, I didn’t know which direction to take. I was always looking for help,” recalls the actor, adding, “This does not happen usually. It is anyway a rare occasion for any actor to do double roles or triple roles, and that too something like this where all characters are so different.”
On top of the challenge in acting, there was a physical challenge as well, because many scenes in the series involve the two characters interacting. Here, Manoj had to shoot and reshoot the same scene multiple times, a process he calls, ‘tough but fun’. He explains, “It is very tough. Everyone was witness to it. But that is the fun part, when you know it is getting more and more difficult. You are putting your mind into it, all your methods into it and still struggling and getting challenged. Sometimes you still feel it is slipping away and you look at your director for help. That confusion, that helplessness brings out something very unique from you.”
Killer Soup, directed and created by Abhishek Chaubey, also stars Nasser, Anula Navlekar, Kani Kusruti, Sayaji Shinde. The eight-episode series premieres on Netflix from January 11.
