Manoj Bajpayee recalls experiencing starvation, would gatecrash film sets during lunchtime to get a meal: ‘Was shooed away by production guys’

After spending several years in Delhi, mastering his acting skills and teaching at the National School of Drama, Manoj Bajpayee moved to Mumbai, where a new wave of struggle began. In the same interview, he said, “When I was in Delhi, I used to stay busy. Theatre didn’t pay me, but it kept me busy. I worked for 18 hours. And I never slept hungry, thanks to my friends. Even if I missed lunch, my friends would share half their chapati with me. But, Mumbai was very difficult for me.”

ALSO READ | Arjun Kapoor opens up about dark phase, says he was ‘paralysed’ by negative thoughts: ‘Was handicapped by personal chaos’

He explained, “I wasn’t good physically. I was also down mentally and emotionally. There was not a lot to do there. I was only wandering from studio to studio in search of work. I was completely broke. It is quiet an expensive place to live. There was no guarantee of where you will find your next meal. I would starve the whole day. Production people would chase us out when we would approach them for work.”

However, Manoj Bajpayee ultimately learnt a few tricks in the city of dreams, which helped him avoid starvation. He said, “Eventually, I learnt tricks to arrange for food. I used to go to a set exactly when they would have lunch break. I used to find a familiar face first and then our conversation would lead to, ‘I am going to grab a bite, you want to join?’ And I would be like, ‘Sure’. We used to put a lot of thought in arranging food.”

Manoj was last seen in the film Bhaiyya Ji, and in the Netflix series Killer Soup.