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Like many actors of his generation, Manoj Bajpayee broke out after appearing in a Ram Gopal Varma project. In a new interview, the actor recalled his first meeting with the filmmaker, and how desperate he was to get any kind of work.
He was summoned to the filmmaker’s office to meet him for a part in the film Daud, but walked away with the promise of a lead role in Satya. But the actor said that he couldn’t take the filmmaker’s word at face value, and insisted that he be cast in the smaller role as well, because he needed the cash.
In a chat with fellow actor Sayaji Shinde on the Bol Bhidu YouTube channel, he recalled RGV asking him if he’d done anything of note before. He told the director, “Yes, I did Bandit Queen. But you won’t recognise me; I played a non-speaking character.” He continued, “When I told him I played Maan Singh, he stood up, and said that he had been looking for me for years, but couldn’t get his hands on my number. Do one thing, forget Daud, I have another movie for you, you’ll play the lead’.”
Manoj continued, “I felt good, but I knew that I’d lose out on the money I’d make for this film, and I needed to pay rent. Many people make promises like this. So I told him, ‘Sir, woh jab hoga toh hoga, mujhe yeh karne dijiye, mujhe paise ki zarurat hai‘. He said, ‘Trust me, I’ll make that film with you,’ but I insisted on this role.”
The actor got the Daud role, and said that he made Rs 30,000 for it, which was a big sum for him at the time. “That paid rent for a year,” he said. He ultimately starred in Satya as well, but he was reduced to a secondary presence as time went on. But as luck would have it, his character Bhiku Mhatre became a fan-favourite, and he’s still remembered for his performance in that film to this day.
In the same interview, he spoke about how hard he struggled as a young actor, often putting together plays with great difficulty. He recalled summoning his brother from their village to watch one of his plays in Delhi. “He used to tell us to work in cinema, and not waste our time doing plays and staying hungry,” Manoj said. But after one performance, his brother was so impressed that he treated him to mutton in the evening. “I asked him where he’d gotten the money to buy the mutton from, and my brother told me he’d borrowed money; he was so moved by the play, he wanted to congratulate me.”
Manoj Bajpayee is one of the most acclaimed actors in the country. His career received another major boost recently, after the hit Prime Video series The Family Man.
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