Manoj Bajpayee has spoken publicly about the “worst phase” of his career, claiming that “nobody was offering me anything.”
Manoj Bajpayee
Despite his fame and considerable talent, actor Manoj Bajpayee keeps a low profile, discussing his work only when absolutely necessary. The 53-year-old, currently enjoying critical acclaim for his over-the-top film Gulmohar, recently spoke about the “worst phase” of his career when he was unemployed.
Manoj recently told YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia, “The worst days of my life were when I left Delhi for Mumbai. I used to put in 18-hour days in Delhi, often without pay, but always with a sense of accomplishment and joy in my work. When I first moved to the United States, I didn’t speak English and I kept trying to learn it, despite the fact that everyone around me thought I was crazy. In spite of the challenges, however, I was quite busy. In spite of this, when I arrived in Mumbai, I found myself without a means to support myself.
Bandit Queen’s Ram Gopal Varma was the one who eventually took notice. To that, he said, “He noticed my performance during a private screening, ironically when no one else in the world had cared. With the exception of myself, every member of Bandit Queen was offered a position. When I was finally brought to Ram Gopal Varma to audition for the role of a henchman in Daud many years later, he jumped up and asked, “I’ve been looking for you for years, where were you?”
He continued by saying that things weren’t easy even after he’d done some successful movies like Pinjar. He elaborated, saying, “Nobody was giving me anything. My current favourite movies bombed at the box office. Bad movies can do well in Hollywood just like any others, guaranteeing that more of the same will follow. Cameramen, reporters, and anchors would simply turn their backs on me and the mic whenever I attended events in the past.
Raajneeti, a political thriller directed by Prakash Jha, was all Manoj knew he needed to get back into the game. The actor’s career would never be the same after the release of the film.
The third season of Manoj’s critically acclaimed web series The Family Man, which premiered in the over-the-top (OTT) space in 2019, is rumoured to be based on terrorism in North East India.
