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Manoj Bajpayee first stepped into the spotlight after he played Bhikhu Mhatre in Satya and soon after that initial wave of fame and recognition, the actor went through a phase where he was confronted by a lot of choices. In a recent interview, Manoj looked back on that time and said that he tried to be someone else because that’s what people expected him to be, but soon realised that this kind of popularity wasn’t his cup of tea.
Now, Manoj is known for playing the common man caught in an unusual circumstance on screen. When he was asked about the image that he has now, the actor said that this wasn’t a conscious choice. “Since the time I started getting some kind of recognition, there were choices in front of me. I tried to be someone else after the fame and recognition because people were constantly asking me to be this way or that way, or behave this way or that way. Then in a month, I realised that it’s not giving me happiness,” he told Bollywood Hungama.
The actor said that he felt “claustrophobic” because he couldn’t be himself. “I started feeling claustrophobic. I started feeling quite suffocated where I could not be myself and that was the time I decided to do it my way,” he said. Manoj added, “It was not a conscious choice to be known as a common man. This is what I was and this is what I was very comfortable with.”
Manoj Bajpayee said that he has chosen roles where he gets to play characters that are relatable to common people but all of this happened quite organically for him. “Whatever happened, happened quite organically after that. I didn’t choose those roles because I wanted to be known a certain way,” he said.
Manoj will next be seen in Bandaa, which premieres on May 23 on ZEE5.
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