Manoj Bajpayee on Secrets of the Kohinoor: I was surprised to know the unknown history of Kohinoor

Acclaimed actor Manoj Bajpayee will soon be seen narrating the intriguing tale of Kohinoor – one of the largest uncut diamonds in the world – in Neeraj Pandey’s Secrets of the Kohinoor. The docuseries will be dropped on Discovery+ on August 4. Besides the actor, the series will also feature Parliamentarian Shashi Tharoor, Historians Irfan Habib, Dr Adrienne Munich, Prof Farhat Nasreen, KK Muhammed, Dr Manvendra Kumar Pundhir, Navtej Sarna, J Sai Deepak, Dr Danielle Kinsey, Dr Miles Taylor and Master Diamond Polisher Pauline Willemse. In an interview, the actor talked about his journey as a storyteller in the docuseries.  

In a recent interview, Manoj said how the documentary took him by surprise. He elaborated that despite being one of the most celebrated diamonds in the world, there are many historical aspects of the stone that are still unknown to the world. He said that the documentary will bring out those truths to the audience. 

In an interview with Ei Samay, Manoj talked about his journey as a storyteller. He said that he was juggling between telling the audience the truth and yet he had to take care of the fact that the viewers are not bored. He said that blending these two aspects was the trick. He also admitted that in documentaries, the pressure on the actor is less. The makers usually make things easy with their research and information. 

Talking about his experience with history, the Family Man actor confessed that despite being a student of history, he never really enjoyed that subject. Manoj further said that during his student life, he used to study history at night and used to forget everything the next morning. He said that the director of the show Raghav Jairath encouraged him. “He said that if we take the dates and years out, history is nothing but stories,” said the actor.