Divya Dutta on working with Manoj Bajpayee in ‘Last Man In Tower’: ‘Sharing Screen Space With Him Was on My Bucket List’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Divya Dutta has carved a niche for herself with her remarkable versatility across Hindi, Punjabi, English and Malayalam cinema. Over a career spanning more than three decades, the National Award-winning Indian actor has consistently defied conventional industry labels, emerging as a powerhouse performer. Despite sharing screen space with some of the finest actors in the industry, Dutta had one regret — she had never shared the screen with Manoj Bajpayee, even though the two have worked together on films like “LOC: Kargil” (2003), “Veer-Zaara” (2004), “Special 26” (2013) and “Traffic” (2016).

“Last Man In Tower” finally gives her the opportunity to share the frame with him. Dutta confirms, “We’ve crossed paths, but never shared screen space. It was on my bucket list. I knew that I needed to share screen space with sheer brilliance that is Manoj Bajpayee. I guess I manifested it and it just happened with a role like this. What an amazing co-star he is! Very giving, humble, easy and so effortless. For us as actors, what’s most important is that you listen, absorb and react. When you have a great actor to play off, it makes the experience so much more enjoyable. And Manoj made sure it happened that way. We had some amazing scenes together.” 

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She says facing the camera becomes challenging and exciting when you’re paired with brilliant actors. “It’s like icing on the cake when you have actors like Manoj Bajpayee, Irrfan, Mr Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar, Shabana Azmi or Shah Rukh Khan. It is always amazing to work with actors whom you can vibe with and react to. But the surprising thing is that it can also happen with newcomers. When I did “Bandish Bandits,” I felt, ‘What do I do with the new group?’ But gradually, I realized I picked up lots of raw energy from them, which helped me to play that character. What’s important is your hunger as an actor. That should never die down.”

Dutta started as a conventional heroine and quickly gravitated towards non-conventional roles. She recalls that it all happened organically. “I never planned anything. I enjoyed doing those conventional heroine roles. Then, the actor in me felt the need to do something that would prove I was a good actor, both to others and to myself. I wanted to do a variety of roles. Gradually it started happening. But there’s also a phase when one performance gets a lot of appreciation, and then you’re flooded with similar roles. Then you have to make very tough choices and refuse them. You have to wait for that phase to pass and new things to come your way.”

She fell into that trap with her last release, the web show “Chiraiya.” Dutta explains, “Post the success of “Chiraiya,” I did get similar kinds of roles, and then I waited. Now it’s so amazing that after doing something like “Chiraiya,” my next release is “The Last Man in Tower,” where I play the antagonist. It’s very gratifying. I’m glad that this road is built and carved by me. It’s a self-made place.”

She agrees that OTT has proved to be a boon for talented actors. She shares, “OTT has been beneficial for all kinds of people who are in the creative field — writers, filmmakers and actors. Storytelling has gone beyond just one hero, one heroine and the villain. Now you have stories and characters. There are stories for 40-plus women. There are layers to the characters they play. They don’t have to be goody-two-shoes. There can be shades of grey. There’s so much more happening. But I do feel each medium has its significance. Cinema will always be cinema.”