Ravi Kishan refused to get beaten up by Manoj Tiwari, wouldn’t share a stage with him: ‘We were rivals for 13 years’

Ravi Kishan and Manoj Tiwari both belong to the same political party now but for years, the two actors, who primarily work in Bhojpuri movies, were arch rivals. In a recent interview, Ravi spoke about his rivalry with Manoj that went on for 13 years. He shared that the two wouldn’t even share the same stage and would make it a point that they never had to cross paths.

“We were rivals for 13 years. We wouldn’t share the same stage. If one learnt that one of us was coming from one direction, the other would go in the other direction,” he recalled on Aap Ki Adalat. Ravi said that since the time Manoj became a star, he had a lot of yes men around him and these yes men would often make up stories and lie to him. “People would lie to him. He had a lot of yes men around him. I would tell him that you are a singer and I am a trained actor, we can work together,” he recalled.

But Rajat Sharma reminded Ravi of the time when he was cast as a thief and Manoj was playing a cop in a movies and Ravi put down the condition that he wouldn’t get beaten by the cop, but would beat him instead. Ravi laughed an shared, “I was looking at him as a competitor. Fans did not want me to be submissive. Fans don’t like watching their hero lose in front of the other guy.” Ravi said that it was an “ego tussle” between them at the time and they are now over it.

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“Today, we share a laugh when we talk about this time. We are great friends today and share a lot of love for each other,” he said.

Ravi Kishan and Manoj Tiwari worked together in Bhojpuri films like Janam Janam Ke Saath and Ganga.