Bhojpuria.com

Manoj Tiwari is in news lately for his album Hey Mahadev and his joint venture with corporate house Frontline. Frontline has also announced a film with him, with a whopping budget of 2.5 crores (250 Millions). One fine morning, we met Manoj at his residence, to discuss his past, present and future:

What you wanted to be in your career?
I always wanted to work for the betterment of Bhojpuri. Today, when a person like US president Obama is giving priority to Bhojpuri speakers, I feel like our mission has been pretty successful.

At a time, when your films are doing good, and your Album is selling like hotcakes, how do you rate your performance?
To be very frank with you, I feel like I am still learning. I am happy that audience is appreciating my hard work, but still, there is a long way to go. I want to entertain people, till the last day of my life.

Most of people are able to see a 'bhojpuria cultural icon' in you, but Bhojpuri films lack such image, why?
Well, honestly speaking, the fault is among us. We are not trying to show cultural values, as we are not looking at films from the same perspective. We are trying to please the audience at first row, but while doing so we forget that all back seats (with premium audience) are still empty.

Please tell us about entry of corporate houses in industry?
Entry of big corporate houses in Bhojpuri film making is a positive thing for industry. This means that we can expect some serious and mature cinema in days to come.

What about your album "Hey Mahadev"?
Oh, I love each and every song of this album. Our experiment with traditional music, and latest tunes is something, which is doing wonders. I am happy to inform you that more than one lakh copies of the album has been sold so far.

Your reality show "Sur Sangram" is doing well, how do you feel?
(Smiles...) yes, Sur Sangram is getting popularity which it deserves. After the success of this, many other show-makers has approached me to host a show for them.

Many other actors has jumped into production, what do you plan?
No, I have no such plans as of now. Right now, I will be using the potential of Frontline and other production houses for the betterment of Bhojpuri film industry.