Manoj Bajpayee was the last one to get cast, says director Dipesh Jain of Gali Guleiyan

Ahead of the release on Friday, the director now opens up about the casting of Manoj Bajpayee in Gali Guleiyan and elaborates on how important it was for the actor to agree to the script.

Dipesh had weaved the plot keeping Manoj Bajpayee in mind but to our surprise, he was the last one to be approached.

He knew Manoj hasn’t enacted such a character in past and could be skeptical to take up such a challenge.

Elaborating the same, Dipesh added, “Manoj was the last one to get cast. Usually, in independent films, you cast a popular face, and then package the whole film. I had got Neeraj Kabi, Ranvir Shorey, Shahana Goswami, and others. We were two months away from the shoot but we couldn’t get hold of Manoj. As a writer, it is such a complex character and I was attached to it, and luckily a friend called Manoj. He read it and liked it.”

Dipesh had Manoj in his mind when he wrote the script.

Expounding his vision and the order in which he wanted things to fall into, he said, “I have seen quite a lot of his films, but when I was writing this character, it wasn’t based on any of his previous roles. I was concerned that if he said no, then it would be tough for me to imagine someone else in this role. I wanted the audience to understand what it would feel like to be lonely and feel his paranoia. Manoj’s performance was crucial because when you’re only asking someone to pull in the audience through their physicality, not many people can do that.”

We have already seen Manoj Bajpayee pulling off most challenging roles at ease and we’re sure that Gali Guleiyan will only add another star to his achievements so far.