Manoj Bajpayee is one of the most respectable actors in Bollywood. Hailing from Bihar, having no Godfather in the industry, the actor speaks about his humble beginnings, the rejections, the struggle for years to get a big break went on to reveal that he was close to suicide. In an interview, he opened up that at the age of nine, the thought dawned on him of being an actor and a huge fan of Amitabh Bachchan, he begins stating about being a ‘farmer’s son’, and went to a hut school with five of his siblings. He moved to Delhi at the age of 17 to find work and theatre which kept him going.
Manoj revealed that he applied for prestigious drama school- National School Of Drama, but after getting rejected thrice following which he had suicidal thoughts and was close at it. He said, “I was an outsider, trying to fit in. So, I taught myself English and Hindi – Bhojpuri was a big part of how I spoke. I then applied to NSD, but was rejected thrice. I was close to committing suicide, so my friends would sleep next to me and not leave me alone. They kept me going until I was accepted.”
Bandit Queen was first break
His first break was of Shekhar Kapur’s noted film Bandit Queen that came in 1994. He said, “That year, I was at a chai shop when Tigmanshu came looking for me on his khatara scooter – Shekhar Kapur wanted to cast me in Bandit Queen! So I felt I was ready and moved to Mumbai. Initially, it was tough – I rented a chawl with 5 friends and looked for work, but got no roles. Once, an AD tore my photo and I’ve lost 3 projects in a day. I was even told to ‘get out’ after my 1st shot. I didn’t fit the ideal ‘hero’ face – so they thought I’d never make it to the big screen. All the while, I struggled to make rent and at times even a vada pav was costly.”
RGV’s Satya was breakthrough film
He then went on get cast in Mahesh Bhatt’s popular TV serial- Swabhimaan which helped him to get noticed and got his first breakthrough with Ram Gopal Varma’s Satya. He said, in my stomach couldn’t dissuade my hunger to succeed. After 4 years of struggle, I got a role in Mahesh Bhatt’s TV series. I got Rs 1500 per episode – my first steady income. My work was noticed and I was offered my first Bollywood film and soon, I got my big break with Satya”.
