Manoj Bajpayee has picked a challenge for himself as an actor by portraying a gay character on screen. This is the first time the actor will be seen dabbing into homosexuality for the role of a gay professor in Hansal Mehta's upcoming film Aligarh.

The film is based on the story of Dr. Srinivas Ramchandra Siras, a professor, whose service was terminated weeks before his retirement as he was captured making love to a rickshaw puller on camera. The incident happened in 2010 and the professor was aged 64 year at the time.

For his role, Manoj Bajpayee will do a full fledged love making scene, making Aligarh the first mainstream Hindi film to feature a scene based on homosexual lovemaking.

According to DNA, a source reported, "This scene would be filmed and not simply suggested on screen. Manoj, who plays Prof. Srinivas, is a brave and fearless actor. He had no qualms about doing the scene."

In the same report Hansal Mehta was also quoted saying, "Manoj will go by the requirement of the script. But the conviction to do what has to be done must come from within. When I was shooting for Shahid, it was Rajkummar Rao who suggested that he strip down to his bones for an interrogation scene."

For Mehta, Aligarh is his toughest project till date because of the issues involved in the portrayal of a homosexual teacher. The director also told DNA, "We have Article 377 and that means every act of homosexual love-making is criminal. To make a film about an academic who was gay is not an easy task. You've to constantly remind audiences that though teachers are supposed to set an example, they are, at the end of the day, only human."