Was looking for something real, relatable for global audience: Manoj on 'The Family Man'

Mumbai: Actor Manoj Bajpayee says he was raring to do a show like Amazon Prime Video’s “The Family Man” which is real and relatable not only for his fans in the country but audiences across the word.

The show, directed by filmmaker duo Raj and DK, follows a middle-class man (Bajpayee) who works for a special cell of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA).

While he tries to protect the nation from terrorists, he also has to protect his family from the impact of his secretive, high-pressure, and low paying job.

“I didn’t have to think much about it. Twenty minutes of synopsis and emotionally and mentally I was raring to do this,” Bajpayee told reporters.

The “Gangs of Wasseypur” actor said before taking up “The Family Man”, he had a chance of going through “many scripts” but the series stood out for him.

“I was looking for something quite real and relatable. Not only for this country, but for the global audience. This was a fantastic opportunity where I could take a plunge without thinking much,” he added.

The actor was speaking at a special event of the show where he was joined by the rest of the cast, Priyamani, Gul Panag, Shreya Dhanwanthary, Darshan Kumar, Sharib Hashmi among others.

Raj said the idea of the show originated from their attempt to spin a fresh take on the spy genre.

“We wanted to make something that was a fresh take on the spy genre. Where we wanted to treat it like a government job, like a middle class guy and take out all the coolness out of it. We took out all the glamour and coolness out of the character. We wanted to make it grounded, a local version of a spy film or a show.”