Manoj Bajpayee: My daughter cried a lot after watching Gulmohar

Although the growing audience of OTT platforms has created a large market for every genre of story, more often than not, the content of films and web series released on streaming platforms is not suitable for a collective family viewing experience due to the explicit nature of their content.

However, Gulmohar, which was recently released on Disney+ Hotstar broke that norm, managing to bring the entire family together.

During an interactive session at the FICCI Frames 2023, Manoj Bajpayee, one of the leading actors in Gulmohar, spoke about the power of a wholesome family entertainer, which allowed him to watch the film with his daughter.  

Manoj said, "Even though most of the time I don't watch films that release on OTT platforms with my daughter, there are two films that I enjoyed watching with her. One is Harry Potter; I must have watched all the Harry Potter films five times. The second film was Gulmohar. I allowed her to watch a film released on OTT because, usually, not all the content is suitable for the consumption of young children. Once the film ended, my daughter went to the washroom and cried so loudly that I could feel it. When she came out of the washroom, I saw that her eyes were swollen. I asked her if she had cried. She said, 'Please, papa, do not ask me about that'. She later shared that since my mother had passed away last year, the character of Dadi in the film reminded her of her Nani."

"That's the power of a good family entertainer: it strikes a chord with every member of the family. And I think in a wholesome story, no matter which age group you are in, you find a connection with some character or another," added the actor.

Gulmohar also stars Sharmila Tagore, Amol Palekar, and Suraj Sharma. 

Manoj will next be seen in the film Bandaa, which is directed by Apoorv Singh Karki and also stars Kaustav Sinha, Priyanka Setia, Jaihind Kumar, and Durga Sharma. It is slated to release on ZEE5 on May 23.