We were lucky to catch up with Manoj Chandra recently and have shared our conversation below.

Manoj , appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

This year I finished filming for a project called “Men in Blue” which is now on the film festival circuit. With my experience in the motion picture business, this film is the most meaningful project for me. The film revolves around a group of immigrant shipyard workers who are put together in a highly controlled industrial camp, the film speaks about humanity and labor rights like never before, I play the lead character “Rafiq Ali” in the film, the character had so much depth to him. The world of Men in Blue is very dark and thought-provoking that it had some after-effects on my mental health after the film was done shooting. Kudos to the filmmaker “Sachin Dheeraj” who onboarded me for the role of Ali after several rounds of auditions. My background goes back to a coastal city of India called Vizag. Interestingly, Ali hails from the same city I was born and raised, this situation sort of let me easily fill the shoes of the character in terms of the slang, dialect and behaviour of the character.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Growing up in India around nuclear families who spend time with each other most of the time, I was a happy-go-lucky kid. During those times, families used to find activities to do together and everybody’s favourite was going to the movies. Watching people emote on this super large-scale screen was fascinating to watch. At a very early age, I started to connect with characters and the feeling of watching a good film stayed with me for days afterwards. As a teenager, I got addicted to Television and also VCDs to the point that my parents started to restrict me from watching films. I still figured ways out, I used to save up food money for a Friday release, watch movie trailers and have the dates of releases written in a notebook. When I couldn’t watch a film in the theatres I would secretly rent out a VCD and wait until everybody goes to bed to watch these films. I recall a funny incident which happened during this time, My dad found one of the CDs which I was hiding and assumed I was watching something which I shouldn’t be watching as a teenager until he opened it and realized it was a Bollywood movie. My dad did not say a word and let me watch my film that night. I kept my dream a secret to myself until I was 17. At 17, during the summer break, I was looking for an off-beaten path and I interviewed for a sales job which lost my interest on day 1. On Day 2, I was back home looking for jobs in the newspaper, and I saw a casting call for a film in my city which changed my life forever. Initially, I did not inform anyone about the fact that I auditioned for the film since I dint want anyone to put me down or even lose credibility after not being selected. I put my heart out in that audition and 2 months later I heard back from the production that I was selected for a full-length supporting role in a feature film and I will be performing opposite the stars I watched on screen until that very day. Being on a film set at 17 was a very different experience when compared to today, young no face actors with no background are unfortunately not respected by anyone on set, I put everything aside and gave my best shot, but the film tanked at the Box office and at that age, this took a toll on me and I figured I would never be able to be in front of the camera ever in my life again. Surprisingly, a few friends in college who watched the film asked me if I could be an actor in their short film. That was the first time I ever heard the term “Short film”. I gave it a shot and the film won awards. Eventually, more filmmakers kept asking me to work with them as an actor and I worked on every single project I was offered during that time. I also wanted to do more than just short films, so I auditioned for a TV host on a renowned TV channel in Hyderabad called “MAA TV”. Just within a few days, I was interviewing the biggest celebrities in India and people started to recognize me wherever I went. This was me while still in college. The TV show and the short films prepared me in front of the camera without having to go to any acting school. Post college I was ready to get back into the film business as an actor. It restarted with my first antognist role in a feature film called “Sanjeevani”. Ever since then my career as an actor had been a great experience. I went from working on an indie set to a studio film under a year, a couple of years passed and i made my first international footprint in a nigerian movie called “Christmas in Miami” which ended up being 2021’s highest grossing film in Africa, I had a principle role in the film starring alongside “John Amos”, “RMD”, “AY”, “Osita” and several others. After being an actor in the commercial cinema for a while, and being a new actor in the United States, i went back to my roots i.e Independent cinema. I signed a film called “Men in Blue” which had me potray a principal role in the film starring alongside “Anthonythasan” (Winner at the Ceasars / Best actor award at Palme d’or Cannes). I’m also playing the role of “Leonard” in another feature film called “Cargo Van” which is going to be filmed in the last quarter of this year in the streets on New York. This is going to be an experimental film in the indie genre, we are attempting to make a Heist/Comedy film which will be shot with no cuts. Being able to be part of such experimental films and being able to work with creatives who are well versed and highly skilled in their craft has been an amazing experience so far. I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for me.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

There have been several things for me as an actor which I needed to unlearn. When I arrived in the United States I dint know anybody within the film industry here. Being a no-name actor in a new country which doesn’t speak my language was a little overwhelming in the beginning but as I progressed from one film to another, I only realised those were the last things I need to worry about. I unlearnt every inhibition I have had in my past from the industry I come from and i started to learn how things work here. This ranges from understanding headshots to agents, managers, PR and audition techniques and several other things which impact an actor’s career graph.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Many non-creative professionals fail to understand the fact that an actor’s journey is not dependent on how good the actor really is. At the end of the day, the film business is a numbers game and several business decisions are made in terms of casting which has nothing to do with an actor’s personal growth or performance. In fact, this is something I took a long time to understand, I had to take the producer’s chair to understand why certain decisions are made and how they are not against any individual personally. Unfortunately, a lot of people misunderstand this scenario and this could lead to anyone losing hope as an actor and pursuing their dream without self-doubt.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_manoj_chandra/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/manojchandra4u/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/manojchandra4sap/