Celebrating Manoj Bajpayee: The screen-journey of an acting star
From Satya to Sonchiriya, Manoj Bajpayee’s career has come several full-circles. On the actor turns 52 this month, we look back at the biggest milestones of his journey
Manoj Bajpayee was born in Belwa in East Champaran, Bihar. The son of a farmer, he was the second of five siblings.
After passing out of Delhi University, he applied for the National School of Drama. He tried four times and failed, eventually landing a teaching position at the institute.
Manoj made his feature film debut with a minor role in Drohkaal (1994). The same year, he appeared as daku Man Singh in Shekhar Kapur’s Bandit Queen.
A definite breakthrough came as gangster Bhiku Mahatre in Ram Gopal Varma’s Satya (1998). The ‘Mumbai ka King’ was afoot, first National award in tow.
He continued collaborating with RGV on Kaun and Shool (directed by Eeshwar Niwas).
Mainstream recognition came with appearances in Zubeidaa, Aks and Road. From princely broods to serial killers, Manoj was playing them all.
In 2003, Manoj won a National Film Award – Special Jury Award for the partition drama Pinjar.
As a dour Pakistani aristocrat in Veer-Zaara (2004), Manoj brought impressive heft to what was essentially another negative role.
Manoj led the cast of Amrit Sagar’s war-drama 1971, based on the real-life escape of imprisoned Indian soldiers from Pakistan.
Manoj sustained a shoulder injury in 2007 and wasn’t able to work for a year
In 2010, Rajneeti was released, pitting Manoj’s shrewd dynast against a sizeable ensemble. His character was inspired by Duryodhana in the Mahabharata.
In 2012, Manoj buried differences with Satya writer Anurag Kashyap to work on Gangs of Wasseypur. The result was Sardar Khan — a flamboyant, baldheaded menace unleashed on Indian screens.
Teaming up with Neeraj Pandey, Manoj played CBI officer Waseem Khan in Special 26. The comedy caper gained much from his dry, witty deliveries.
Aligarh (2015) saw Manoj Bajpayee at his re-inventive best. As Ramchandra Siras — the Marathi professor who was fired from the Aligarh Muslim University — Manoj delivered his quietest and most affecti
In a touching callback, Manoj’s withered dacoit in Sonchiriya was named Man Singh, just like Bandit Queen. In a film about redemption and circularity, this was perhaps its most haunting throughline
In 2019, Manoj received the Padma Shri from President Ram Nath Kovind.
The Family Man made clever use of Manoj’s middle-class persona, turning it into a day-light cover for his spy. As with his every other performance, there’s more to Srikant Tiwari than meets the eye
