The ride has not been easy… it has taken a lot out of me, a lot of blood and sweat. I don’t wish for any other actor to be in my shoes at all: Manoj Bajpayee
Image: Madhu Kapparath; Styling: Ashish Sharma, Bhavika Kundnani; Makeup & Hair: Manish Joshi,
Sachin Jadhav; Outfit By Jayesh Shah Label; Shoes By Es Caro Royale; Watch By Swarovski
Manoj Bajpayee hasn’t forgotten that he was chucked out of three projects in a day. Instead of drowning in sorrow or cursing his luck, he chose to have a good time that evening. “I partied with three friends who could afford a bottle or two of rum. We made mutton curry and drank like a fish,” he recalls.
It was the early ’90s and Bajpayee, who hailed from a farming family in Bihar, was trying to make a mark in the Hindi film industry as an actor. Though he had a background in theatre, having performed in various plays in Delhi, he found it difficult to break through in an industry known to eulogise ‘stars’. In the absence of casting directors, aspiring actors had to go through numerous auditions and make multiple rounds of production houses to bag that elusive opportunity.
(This story appears in the 13 January, 2023 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)