Manoj Bajpayee says he asked friend for Rs 50 loan to travel to Delhi: ‘He said you wouldn’t pay me back…’

Manoj Bajpayee said that when he first came to Delhi, he did not know that one had to get their train tickets reserved.

New Delhi | July 19, 2023 04:23 PM IST

3 min read

Manoj Bajpayee shared an anecdote from his student days.

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Manoj Bajpayee grew up in a small town in Bihar and before his college days in Delhi, the actor had never even stepped foot in a big city. During an earlier appearance on Aap Ki Adalat, Manoj recalled that after finishing his Class 12 exams, he had no defined plans and just thought of coming to Delhi because one of his friends was coming to the city.

He recalled, “A childhood friend was going to Delhi. He said he will get admission at Delhi University. I said take me along. He asked, do you have money? I said I don’t know how much Dad will give me.” Manoj said that he was so naive at that point that he did not even know that a ticket reservation would be required to travel to Delhi.

When Manoj asked his friend how much a ticket would cost, he learnt it would be Rs 50 but he didn’t have the funds to pay his friend. “I asked him please pay for me now, I will return it to you later,” he recalled with a laugh. Manoj recalled his friend’s words and said, “Voh bola bhikhmanga aadmi, tu kab chukayega? Tu pandit hai toh tujhe daan kar dia maine (He said you poor fellow, when will you return it? You are a pandit so I will assume I have donated it).”

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Manoj said that it was in the name of donation that he got a loan of Rs 50 to come to Delhi with his friend. He said, “Dakshina ke naam par Rs 50 karza mila tha mujhe (In the name of donation, I got a loan of Rs 50).”

Manoj Bajpayee got his first big break in the movies when he worked with director Shekhar Kapur in Bandit Queen. But it wasn’t until Ram Gopal Varma’s Satya that Manoj actually experienced stardom. Recently, Satya completed 25 years of its release, and Manoj told PTI, “I look at it as a game changer. It has completely changed the industry. From the way the stories were told to the craft, or the way people look at filmmaking or performances, everything was so new both for the industry and audience. After the humongous success of Satya, I started getting roles, respect and entry into big offices.”

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