Manoj Bajpayee: I am unaffected by outside mayhem  

Manoj Bajpayee is spending his lockdown in the mountains of Uttarakhand, and says he is unaffected by the outside mayhem. The actor says the COVID-19 pandemic has turned out to be a great leveller.

"I am stuck in the mountains with my family. It's a great place to be in, anyway. I am unaffected by the outside mayhem going on. Also, the locals are very aware and very careful," Manoj told IANS when asked about his lockdown.

"The realisation (after this period) is that life is too unpredictable. I was just kind of thinking and realised that we give so much importance to ourselves for no reason. In this kind of a situation, be it a millionaire or an underprivileged, all are on the same platform and on the same level...This is the beauty and power of nature. When it comes to proving its force, it spares no one. So, it is important to keep your shoulders on the head," he added.

Manoj was shooting for an upcoming web series with Deepak Dobriyal in the hills, when the lockdown was announced. Since, then he has been staying there with his family and the crew.

On the work front, he was recently seen in "Mrs. Serial Killer", which released on Netflix on May 1. "Mrs. Serial Killer" is directed by Shirish Kunder and produced by his filmmaker wife Farah Khan. The thriller is about a wife, whose husband has been framed and imprisoned for serial murders. She needs to perform a murder exactly like the serial killer, to prove that her husband is innocent. It also stars Jacqueline Fernandez and Mohit Raina.

For Manoj, working on OTT platforms has turned out to be a "liberating" experiment.

"It (no box office pressure) is the most liberating aspect of OTT platforms. I felt it when I was working on 'The Family Man'. I could think of wild experiments for my performance and I could go ahead and perform it. It used to work and people on the set would appreciate it and acknowledge it and be entertained," said the actor, who has proved his acting calibre in projects like "Satya", "Shool" and "Gangs of Wasseypur".

He continued: "The experiments have worked with the audience as well. If you want to come up with something new, this is the platform because the ultimate thing is output. There is nobody to judge you before release and you are not going to be judged by the amount of money that you collect at the box office. It has been liberating experimentation for me.

"In future, if I get something as exciting as the last one, I will go ahead and be part of it," said the actor, who is also looking forward to the second season of his popular web series "The Family Man".