Om Raut talks about his temptation of directing Manoj Bajpayee

Mumbai, Aug 27 (IANS) Director-producer Om Raut, whose production ‘Inspector Zende’ is set to release on OTT next month, battled bouts of temptations of directing the National Award-winning actor Manoj Bajpayee on the film.

Om Raut spoke with IANS recently, at his office in the Khar west area of Mumbai, ahead of the film’s release, and shared that serving as the producer on ‘Inspector Zende’ was all fun and games until he saw Manoj Bajpayee performing, and was immediately tempted to sit on the director’s chair, and direct him but for the larger good of the film, he controlled his nerves.

He told IANS, “Manoj Bajpayee sir got on board, and what a treat of an actor to work with. I mean, sometimes you feel, ‘Such a great actor that is actually working in the film’ and, you are not directing, you are there sitting on the side just seeing them perform, it’s a great treat”.

“One day, God willing, I will get a chance to direct Mr. Manoj Bajpayee sir and hopefully that will happen soon. So, it’s a great experience. It’s a lovely change of hat and it’s a new role and I am actually having a good time”, he added.

His office is very tastefully done with waist-length sculptures of Darth Vader and Stormtroopers from the ‘Stars Wars’ franchise. When asked about his sense of aesthetics, he said, “It is very difficult. My films actually talk about it. Now, how can I talk about it? But I think I am a very minimalist guy. I mean, I like minimal design. Less is more is what I feel. And that’s the way I would like to be”.

Meanwhile, ‘Inspector Zende’ is set to release on September 5, 2025 on Netflix.

–IANS

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