Manoj Bajpayee, a four-time National Award winner, made his debut first with a one-minute role in Govind Nihalani's Drohkaal (1994) and then acted in the film Bandit Queen (1994). Manoj Bajpayee, in over 30 years of his career, has always impressed the audiences and critics with his incredible performances. But, his road to fame wasn't an easy one.
Manoj Bajpayee might be considered the king of OTT now but there was a time when he had to convince his to let him pursue acting. Born in Belwa, a small village near the city of Bettiah in West Champaran district Bihar, Manoj Bajpayee dreamed of becoming an actor since childhood. However, his father wanted him to become a doctor and pushed him to take the MBBS exam. In a 2023 interview, Manoj Bajpayee once revealed how he marked wrong answers in his exam purposely in order to fail. He was quoted as saying, "So, for the questions to which I knew the answers, I would hide my face and mark anything. I did that so that I do not give the right answers, else I will have to become a doctor aur actor banne se reh jaunga (my dream of becoming an actor will never be fulfilled)."
Manoj Bajpayee moved to Delhi at the age of 17 to get admission into the National School of Drama (NSD). Because his family was against the idea, Manoj Bajpayee faked his UPSC preparations. The actor once revealed in an interview, "I made up my mind that I will not tell my parents and instead, tell them that I will do Arts from Delhi University and prepare for UPSC and try to become an SP collector. I made them dream of this and they, being so innocent, agreed. I fooled them and came to Delhi."
Manoj Bajpayee did History honours from the University of Delhi because admission to NSD required a graduation degree. He was rejected three times and slipped into depression. Because of this, Manoj Bajpayee also contemplated suicide. However, things soon fell into place. He joined acting coach Barry John's workshop and eventually moved to Mumbai to pursue his acting career.
Manoj Bajpayee has continued to act in films and on OTT series. He is a 4-time National Award winner and is considered one of the best actors in the film industry. He currently is also one of the highest-paid actors on OTT.
Manoj Bajpayee is married to former actress Shabana Raza, who is also known as Neha. The couple married in 2006 and they have a daughter.
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