Manoj Bajpayee on Mastering Diction for RBI Governor Role: ‘Better to Go Minimal Than Go Wrong’
Actor says precision in language was key to portraying his character in ‘Governor’, inspired by India’s 1991 economic crisis
MUMBAI — National Award-winning actor Manoj Bajpayee has spoken about the careful attention he paid to diction while portraying an RBI Governor in his upcoming film Governor, saying he deliberately opted for restraint and subtlety over linguistic flourish to preserve authenticity.
Speaking during promotions in Mumbai, Bajpayee said he was particularly mindful of how his character’s background would influence speech and tone, especially since the role draws from a Tamil cultural context while being performed in Hindi.
“I was very scared and nervous because actors, especially people like me, I don’t like to go wrong with language and diction,” he said. “I am from Bihar. So I know how much I get offended when language is spoken wrongly. So it is better to go minimal, I always say, because you are making it in Hindi. You need to play up the essence of that language.”
He explained that his approach focused on capturing cultural nuance rather than exaggerating accent or dialect for effect.
“You are not supposed to be completely indulgent about the accent because it will take away the attention from the matter,” he said. “We have tried to keep a lot of measured things in this — the culture behind the language.”
Bajpayee added that his process for Governor builds on his past experiences with linguistically diverse roles in films such as Satya and Aligarh, where he worked across different speech patterns while maintaining character authenticity.
He noted that language and tone shift depending on a character’s social and educational background.
“If a character is coming from a certain class, his speech comes from that world. Then the accent is different,” he said. “But if you are playing someone who is educated, like a man of literature, then his Hindi has a different tone. A lot of work has to be done on all these things. All accents cannot be the same. They change according to the character.”
He also emphasized the importance of research and behind-the-scenes preparation in shaping performance.
“If you see what is happening behind the curtain, it is not just a photo on Instagram,” he said.
Governor is inspired by real events surrounding India’s 1991 economic crisis and reportedly draws from the tenure of former RBI Governor S. Venkitaramanan, who played a key role during the country’s financial restructuring.
The film is presented by Sunshine Pictures and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, with direction by Chinmay Mandlekar. It is co-produced by Aashin A. Shah and written by Suvendu Bhattacharyjee, Saurabh Bharat, Ravi Asrani, and Vipul Amrutlal Shah. Lyrics are by Javed Akhtar, with music composed by Amit Trivedi.
Governor is scheduled for theatrical release on June 12, 2026.
