From Bhikkhu Matre to Biranchi Das

Rejected three times by the National School of Drama, Bajpayee is now one of the most poignant actors in Bollywood. Known for his drastically antithetical roles, he is all set to take over the cinema halls this Friday with his upcoming fling Budhia: Born to Run.

Based on the real-life incident, Budhia: Born to Run is the story of a boy called Budhia Singh from Odisha.  Budhia ran from Bhubaneswar to Puri at the age of four covering 65 kilometres in seven hours and two minutes thus listing himself as the world’s youngest marathon runner in the Limca book of records in the year 2006. 

In a recent press conference held in the national Capital, Bajpayee talked about the various aspects that surrounded the film. On being asked what inspired him to do this film, the actor replied, “I have been following this case ever since it came into the limelight. There was something very intriguing about this story that forced me to take up this film.”

Bajpayee who will be essaying the role of Budhia’s coach, Biranchi Das, also talked about the challenges that he faced in essaying the role of the slain coach, whose murder is still a mystery. 

The actor  took help from footage recorded when Budhia became famous to get into the skin of Biranchi’s character. Based on his understanding of Biranchi’s character, he was of the view that Biranchi was a very brash and headstrong person who wanted to make Budhia achieve the target he had set for him. His character deeply fascinated Bajpayee. 

“An actor has to be extremely brave and should possess a lot of courage in order to find all the characters within himself, it is quite a horrendous task to delve into a character”, said the Aligarh actor. He also talked about the most appealing aspect of the movie that is the relationship of the boy and the coach.” It is new and something very different from what you have seen before” said Bajpayee.

The 47-year-old actor also expressed his concern over the deplorable situation of Budhia who lives in a sports hostel and barely manages to run for 10 or 15 kms because of the lack of mentorship. Biranchi’s sudden death brought a halt to Budhia’s athletic career.

A doting father to a five-year old, Bajpayee firmly believes that everyone should live their dreams. He talked about the immense amount of talent in different parts of India that remains unnurtured. He urged the people and the government to form an association to train and mentor those children who have talent but due to the lack of resources they are miles away from fulfilling their dreams.

Budhia: Born to Run will hit the screens on August 5. The movie aims to send out a message that no talent should go unnoticed.