The Family Man actor Manoj Bajpayee says COVID-19 has been bad for the world but great for the entertainment industry

The National Award-winning actor, Manoj Bajpayee believes the COVID-19 pandemic has brought a huge change in the filmmaking business as it has generated equal opportunities for talented actors in the industry.

The actor was speaking at the session, titled, 'Pure Evil: The Bad Men of Bollywood' at the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) when he was speaking about how the pandemic has helped the entertainment industry. The Family Man actor said earlier, nobody, other than the heroes were treated that well on the sets, by the audience or the makers as they wouldn't get equal space even on posters or at award functions. But things are changing now over the decade, especially during the pandemic. 

According to Indiatoday.in, he said, “Anybody who was doing any role, other than the hero’s, was treated like a second-class citizen, on the set, by the audience, on the posters or at the award functions." This was one of the reasons why he didn't shift to Mumbai as well as he said everybody only celebrated heroes. "Now, so many women-oriented films are being made, the time has changed very quickly in this last decade, so much so that the pandemic, which has been really bad for the entire world, has been great for the entertainment industry," he said.

He further said that the entire dynamics of filmmaking have changed. "It has really given a level-playing field to all the talent,” he said adding that Nana Patekar is one of the underrated actors in the industry even though he has helped theatres actors or the real talent to get a position in the industry at a time when the box office was ruled by the mainstream cinema. 

Bajpayee is known for his supporting roles in films like Satya and Aks, while Nana Patekar is known for his character roles in films like Parinda, Agni Sakshi and Angaar.