Nagraj Manjule: Ranbir Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal are great actors, I would like to work with them in the future – Times of India

“I have learned so many things from Bachchan sir. Despite having done so many movies, he continues to show extreme dedication and passion for the craft. Like they say, success goes to one’s head, but with Amitabh sir it is different. One can only learn his simplicity by observing him on the sets. And as a human being too, he is very helpful,” says the filmmaker in awe of the man he dearly looks up to.

Coming from a blockbuster like ‘Sairat’, Nagraj Manjule prefers not to stress himself with the financial figures, “I never take box office pressure. I cannot stress about box office success before making a movie. I just believe in making a movie with 100 per cent effort, the results will be there. It is true that the responsibility factor is there. But making a movie is all about teamwork, even ‘Sairat’ was a collaborative hit so it is everyone’s effort and everyone’s success. I just put my heart and soul into ‘Sairat’ and the result was delivered by the audience. With ‘Jhund’, the only thing different for me was to work with such a stalwart actor. It was a huge responsibility.”

Big B’s soccer team in ‘Jhund’ includes several actors from Nagraj Manjule’s previous movies. The filmmaker has repeated the lead cast of ‘Sairat’ – Rinku Rajguru and Akash Thosar for this entertainer, while he has also reunited with Ajay-Atul for the music. The filmmaker asserts, “There are a lot of small characters around Bachchan sir, and my previous actors were fitting right into the roles. Also, Ajay-Atul are my favourites, our tuning is also very good. We understand each other’s requirements, they know what my heart wants.” Riding on the success of several National Award honors, Nagraj Manjule is happy with the initial success of ‘Jhund’, he adds, “I am happy with the kind of response that I am getting. I have received four national awards till now and if ‘Jhund’ also receives that kind of appreciation, it would be a huge thing for me. But for now, I cannot predict anything.”

While Nagraj Manjule has ticked Amitabh Bachchan’s name off his wish list, we asked him to reveal other names that he would like to work with. “I am keen to work with Aamir Khan, Naseer sir. Even Ranbir Kapoor and Vicky Kaushal are great actors, I would like to work with them. I also follow Raju Hirani ji’s movies. The thing is I want to work with a lot of actors, but I am not sure if they will want to work with me,” signs off the filmmaker.