‘Salman Khan said Manoj Bajpayee deserves this award for Satya, don’t know why they gave it to me’: Actor recalls gesture

Manoj Bajpayee shot to stardom when he appeared in Ram Gopal Varma’s film Satya as Bhikhu Mhatre and much like the audience, even the film industry was completely left in awe of his talent. Satya released the same year as Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and in a recent interview, Manoj recalled how an award ceremony honoured Salman for KKHH instead of him, which left Salman shocked. Manoj further recalled that Salman accepted the award on stage and “graciously” said that Manoj deserved this honour for Satya.

In a chat with Pinkvilla, when asked about this award function, Manoj said that Salman and him were both competing for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Salman was nominated for Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Manoj was nominated for Satya. He said, “This is absolutely true because we were all there. When they announced the name, the audience got quite upset and they were standing up and yelling for Bhikhu Mhatre.”

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He further recalled how Salman honoured Manoj on stage and said, “Salman, when he went on stage, very gracious of him, he said, ‘I don’t know why they gave it to me. Manoj deserves this.’ He said that. To say something like that, one has to be large-hearted and Salman did that. I really felt good that there are such people in the industry.” Manoj then added that the same award ceremony actually honoured him for Best Actor (Critics) for his work in Satya.

Despite being contemporaries, Salman and Manoj have never shared screen space.

Manoj is now looking forward to the release of his 100th film titled Bhaiyyaji. The film is directed by Apoorv Singh Karki, who also worked with Manoj in Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai. The actor had recently shared that he has started shooting for the third season of Prime Video’s Family Man.