Bollywood is box office driven, not content driven: Manoj

Actor Manoj Bajpayee says in Bollywood, too much focus is given to a particular kind of cinema over content-driven films.
The 47-year-old actor, who has starred in films like "Satya", "Zubeidaa", "Pinjar", "Gangs of Wasseypur" and "Aligarh", says viewers are also responsible for it to some extent.
"The main obstacle is that we are too much into one kind of cinema and we are not letting the other kind of cinema co-exist. And the responsibility lies with the viewers also. It is important to sensitise people," Manoj told reporters on the sidelines of Smile International Film Festival for Children & Youth (SIFFCY).

"Earlier women-oriented films were not made. Lately, I am seeing some changes and these films are also doing well. The problem is our country is box office drive, not content driven."
Manoj made his feature film debut with the one-minute role in "Drohkaal" in 1994, and a minor role of a dacoit in Shekhar Kapur's "Bandit Queen".
But it was his performance as gangster Bhiku Mhatre in Ram Gopal Varma's 1998 crime drama "Satya" which proved to be a breakthrough.

The actor says after getting so much adulation with "Satya", he wanted to only do films in which he believed in but he realised that what he thought as a good subject was not received well at the box office.

"After 'Satya', I always wanted to do films that I believe in. But what you believe is not always accepted at the box office. So, your market value goes down and then you stop getting offers.
"In our industry, they don't take you because of your talent, they take you on the basis of the business your last film did. But I have come a long way by god's grace, the audience's support and few directors who believed in me. I am very hopeful that good films will rule one day.