When Manoj regretted playing Maoist

Oct 8, 2012 IANS

Mumbai, Oct 8 (IANS) At one point during the shooting of "Chakravyuh", a movie based on the Naxalite movement, actor Manoj Bajpayee regretted choosing to essay the role of a Maoist leader. And he had his reasons.

"My character is comparatively difficult because he has big lines and big speeches and he speaks in the Chattisgarhi dialect. That was difficult for me because I don't know the Chattisgarhi dialect and there was a tutor who used to listen to my dialogues and then correct them," the 43-year-old said here in an interview.

"I had to remain alert and I also felt that I had made a mistake by accepting this role, it was such hard work, I used to stay so tense," he added.

Manoj also revealed that his physique also suffered a lot during the film's shooting, but it was the need for the film.

"Right now I have put on two kg, but at that time I lost a lot of weight, during the shoot also. Everyone used to tell me, 'What have you done? You'll die like this. You're looking like a skeleton'. But I knew why I was doing it, I was doing it because we did not want a well-nourished Naxal leader," Manoj said.

"Chakravyuh", directed by Prakash Jha, also features actor Abhay Deol as a Maoist while Arjun Rampal and Esha Gupta play IPS officers.

It hits theatres Oct 24.

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Chakravyuh