Actor Manoj Bajpayee has said that he has developed a thick skin when it comes to criticism but he did get concerned and offended when people began dragging his family into the controversy surrounding the previous title of his film, Gajab Raat.
The Netflix film, directed by Ritesh Shah, was originally announced by Netflix in February this year as Ghooskhor Pandat . The makers later changed the title. But the makers and Manoj received a lot of online hate following the row. I’ve had a journey from rejection to everything (where) you are called all sorts of things. So you are thick-skinned. At the end of the day, I feel bad all those people, who are either very ignorant or have less knowledge about life. What really concerned me and offended me to no bits is when they started publishing the photo(s) of my family and saying things. Manoj is married to actor Shabana Raza, who appeared in films like Kareeb and Fiza. They have a daughter together. He recalled that the abuse faced by his family was from ‘nameless’ trolls, which meant he could not confront them. “I am a person who is very easy (going) in life, I like to be happy and have fun all the time. But at the same time, when there is an urgency to save my near and dear ones, I’m very confrontational…
The film released on Netflix this Friday, October 23. Because i’m an actor, in a recent interview with PTI, Manoj recalled the time, saying, “You go ahead and assault me with the worst thing, I’ll take it. Because there are nameless people out there,” the actor said, but who could I confront.
The title triggered a social media backlash with several politicians and organisations calling it “casteist and offensive”.
Eventually, the film was retitled Gajab Raat, with the first teaser releasing earlier this month.
Gajab Raat also stars Divya Dutta, Saqib Saleem, Shraddha Das, and Akshay Oberoi, with Kiku Sharda and Nushrratt Bharuccha in special appearances. The film us currently streaming on Netflix.
