Was Manoj Bajpayee’s character in Aks similar to Heath Ledger’s Joker?

Acclaimed actor Manoj Bajpayee - who has been making headlines ever since the release of his ZEE5 original courtroom drama film Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai, directed by Apoorv Singh Karki - was recently asked if he found his character in Aks similar to that of the late Heath Ledger’s (the Joker) in The Dark Knight. 

Also read: Manoj Bajpayee: ‘There has to be a balance between OTT and theatres’

Manoj played Raghavan Ghatge in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s 2001 supernatural action thriller film, Aks, also starring Amitabh Bachchan, Raveena Tandon and Nandita Das. During a recent interview, The Family Man actor was asked about the ‘eerie similarities’ between his introductory shot in Aks - in which he is cornered by inspector Manu Verma (played by Big B) - and the interrogation scene between Batman and the Joker in the Christopher Nolan masterpiece that was released in 2008. In the scene in Aks, Manoj talks about society and rules, and how without those, everybody would become evil. 

“My friends and I always discuss how we were the first ones to come up with a character similar to the Joker. If we had said this, people might have called us pompous. It took me six to seven months to craft the character of Raghavan. I had the task of embodying absolute evil. The dialogues given to me were in English, so I improvised with the Hindi dialogues. I approached the character with flamboyance,” the Gulmohar actor told Cinema Express. 

Also read: Manoj Bajpayee: So many of us wanted Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai to release in theatres and not OTT, but... | Exclusive

According to Manoj, he wanted to portray pure evil in the film, but then realised that even a villain should look ‘attractive’ on screen. “I remember I was in Atlanta in the US when I was preparing for the character. I was sitting in a bar, and I saw these alcohol bottles that seemed so alluring from the outside, though they contained something that is toxic. I got it then. Evil needed to be attractive,” he added. 

Aks marked Rakeysh’s directorial debut. The plot focussed on copycat murders perpetrated by a serial killer. Padma Shri awardee Manoj’s upcoming releases include Despatch, Joram and Soup.