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 Manoj Bajpayee                  He used to take part in school plays and also did theatre for a while                   but he always wanted to become an
                                  in Patna. He later moved to Delhi to pursue higher education but
                                 wanted to make it to the National School of Drama (NSD). He had
                                heard that many NSD alumni including Naseeruddin Shah and Om                             actor  from  his  childhood  days.  He
                                                                                                                         used to take part in school plays and
 From Belwa to Bollywood                         Puri had made it big in the film industry.                              also did theatre for a while in Patna.
                                                                                                                         He  later  moved  to  Delhi  to  pursue
                                                                                                                         higher education but wanted to make
                                                                                                                         it to the National School of Drama
                                                                                                                         (NSD).  He  had  heard  that  many
                                                                                                                         NSD  alumni  including  Naseeruddin
                                                              anoj  Bajpayee  is  one  of  the  finest   acclaimed  films  such  as  Kaun,  Aks,   Shah  and  Om  Puri  had  made  it  big
                                                              actors of his generation who has done   Zubeida,    Veer  Zara  and,  above  all,   in  the  film  industry.  He  wanted  to
                                                              more than 80 films, television serials   Pinjar for which he got the National   follow the same route but he faced big
                                                              and  web  series  in  a  distinguished   Award. After a brief lull in his career   setbacks when he was rejected thrice
  He has mostly worked in the                                  career spanning more than 28 years.   between 2005 and 2010 when did not   by  the  prestigious  drama  school.  At
 Hindi entertainment industry                                  He has mostly worked in the Hindi   do any significant movies, he staged a   actor  Raghuvir  Yadav’s  suggestion,
                                                                                            triumphant  comeback  with  Prakash
                                                                                                                         Manoj  joined  Barry  John’s  acting
                                                               entertainment industry but has also
 but has also acted in a few Tamil                             acted  in  a  few  Tamil  and  Telugu   Jha’s  Rajneeti  (2010)  and  Anurag   school  where  Shah  Rukh  Khan  was
 and Telugu movies. He has so                                   movies.  He  has  so  far  won  three   Kashyap’s  Gangs  of  Wasseypur   also learning the ropes of acting. He
 far won three National Awards,                                  National  Awards,  six  Filmfare   (2012). He has not since looked back.   soon  earned  a  name  for  himself  in
                                                                                                                         theatre circles in Delhi. After moving
                                                                                            In  2016,  he  stunned  the  audiences
                                                                    Awards and two Asia-Pacific
 six Filmfare Awards and two                                        Screen Awards. He was also   with  his  riveting  performance  in   to  Mumbai,  he  worked  in  television
 Asia-Pacific Screen Awards. He                               conferred  the  Padma  Shri  award  by   Hansal Mehta’s Aligarh. He also won   serials such as Swabhimaan in his early
                                                                                            the  National  Award  for  Best  Actor
                                                              the  Government  of  India  for  his
                                                                                                                         days, but he was only biding his time
 was also conferred the Padma                                 contribution to cinema.       for Bhonsle (2018).  In 2019, his web   for his breaks in films.
 Shri award by the Government                                   Manoj  made  his  debut  in  films   series on Amazon Prime Video, The   Manoj  got  married  in  2006  to
 of India for his contribution to                             way  back  in  1994  with  small  roles   Family  Man  and  its  second  season   actress Neha who had made her debut
                                                              in  Govind  Nihalani’s  Drohkaal  and
                                                                                                                         in  Vidhu  Vinod  Chopra’s  Kareeb
                                                                                            in  2021  turned  out  to  be  huge  hits
 cinema.                                                      Shekhar  Kapur’s  Bandit  Queen  but   establishing  himself  as  a  global  star.   in  1998.  Manoj  has  now  become
                                                              he  made  his  presence  felt  in  a  big   The series became one of the most-  the toast of the over-the-top (OTT)
                                                              way  with  his  portrayal  of  gangster   watched  shows  at  the  international   industry  because  of  his  versatility.
                                                              Bhiku Mhatre in Ram Gopal Varma’s   level.                 He  is equally at ease in all formats of
                                                              Satya  in  1998.  His  dialogue  in  the   Born  in  1969  in  Belwa  village   cinema and is often hailed as the first
                                                              film, “Mumbai ka king kain?’ became   under  West  Champaran  district  in   OTT superstar, though he still prefers
                                                              a  big  hit.  He  followed  it  up  with   Bihar,  Manoj’s  father  was  a  farmer   to be known as an actor only.
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