Even the most cynical Hindi cinema fans would agree that Manoj Bajpayee, along with actors like Irrfan Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, has immensely contributed to the changing face of the industry. They have been commercial and offbeat in equal forms.
They all have been witnesses to each other’s growth and amazing calibre. In fact, it was Manoj who suggested Irrfan’s name for Akashdeep Sabir’s Ghaath (2000). Manoj had already become known after his performance in Satya (1998).
Later, they both gained prominence as the masters of the craft.
Interestingly, it was Irrfan who was considered for the role of Virendra Pratap in Prakash Jha’s superhit film Raajneeti (2010). This was a film that completely transformed the way everyone looked at Manoj.
Journalist Piyush Pandey in his recently published book ‘Manoj Bajpayee: Kuch Paane Ki Zid’, has given a detailed account of what happened during the casting of Raajneeti. He has quoted Prakash Jha saying, “I had reached out to Irrfan for the role of Virendra Pratap, but somehow it didn’t work out. I wanted to work with Manoj for a long time. He liked the character when I narrated it. It had many shades. And then Manoj was an actor before a hero, so he understood it and worked upon the character. He anyway has a different method. He has a background in theatre and he gets deep into it. Like Shabana Azmi, he asks a lot of questions about the character.”
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Later, Raajneeti created history at the box-office, and Manoj’s dialogue ‘karaara jawab milega’ gained a place in popular culture.
This was also one of those rare successful projects for Manoj after a string of underperforming films, but here onwards, he became equally established in the commercial space.
