Rahul Vishnoi reviews Manoj Bajpayee: The Definitive Biography by Piyush Pandey (published by Penguin Ebury Press, 2024).
What would you get if you rub a star on paper? A celestial glow, what else? Manoj Bajpayee, the original king of 90s alternate cinema, the ‘Mumbai-ka-king-kaun’ star, has reinvented himself time and again. For the Netfliz-Prime generation, he is Srikant Tiwari of The Family Man. For the bollywood aficionados from the 90s, he is Bhikhu Mhatre of Satya. Those who live, eat and drink films remember him as Inspector Samar from Shool. Those who love their movies spiced up with blood and gore hail Manoj as Sardar Khan of Gangs of Wasseypur. It is this unforgettable persona of enduring grace that Piyush Pandey has captured in his official biography of the Bihar-born star.
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Roots of a Star
Pandey begins the book at the very beginning: the time when Manoj’s great-grandfather Mahaveer Prasad Bajpayee arrived in Bihar. Cut to his father, Radhakant Bajpayee, called a ‘filmchi’ by Manoj (an incurable film lover), who had himself gotten bit by an acting bug and had unsuccessfully tried for an acting course in FTII. The author shares that when he reached Manoj’s sister’s house, his mother was watching a Bhojpuri film by Dinesh Lal Yadav Nirahua. It is this filmy air that pumped motivation into Manoj Bajpayee. Even his name was inspired by immensely famous actor Manoj Kumar from earlier days of Hindi movies, known for his patriotic roles.
In a BBC interview, Manoj said that he came to Delhi when he was just 17 years old. It was here that he first saw colour TV. His dream was to secure admission to NSD. He, however, failed to clear the written test. Depressed and disappointed, he was taken by the actor Raghubir Yadav to Barry John’s theatre workshop. More famous as Shahrukh Khan’s acting coach, when Barry came to know that Manoj Bajpayee could not get into NSD, he consoled him by saying: ‘A new thing can’t be created unless old gets broke. So, you consider yourself lucky.’
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Manoj got to learn the nuisances of acting by becoming a part of the play Baghdad ka Ghulam, an adaptation of The Servant of Two Masters by actor Raghubir Yadav. He went on to act in various plays, during which he fell in love and married a co-actress. This later culminated in a divorce. Since this happened when the internet was not available, film stars were treated with a sort of reverence. Not many people know this, but Shabana Raza (launched by Vidhu Vinod Chopra as ‘Neha’ in Kareeb) is his second wife.
Rise to Stardom
After a slew of TV serials, he got a role in The Bandit Queen, and Bajpayee’s journey towards stardom began. It was not until the time of Satya when he achieved tremendous fame. Ahead of time, Satya was a gritty gangster drama with no positive main character, a feat unheard of in the 90s, which was famous for sappy, candyfloss romances. Satya brought much-deserving recognition to Manoj. It propelled him onto a journey that’s still going on with Bhaiya Ji: Manoj’s 100th film.
The book explores not only Manoj’s struggle but a number of anecdotes too. He shares how crowds used to throng the sets of Shool, which was being shot in the hinterlands of Bihar. Manoj maintained that it was the female lead of the movie, Ravina Tandon, for whom the people were coming to the set. Even a friend of Manoj’s requested a quick tete-a-tete with the actress.
Another curious incident shared by Pandey is about Manoj Bajpayee’s famous dialogue from Prakash Jha’s blockbuster movie Rajneeti. Manoj’s famous line, ‘Karara jawab milega,’ was going to be chopped off as the film was getting too long. Jha, on the insistence of his team, kept it. The line soon became a favourite among the masses and the classes alike.
Manoj Bajpayee: The Official Biography is strictly for the film buffs and ardent fans of the actor.
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Favourite Quote from Manoj Bajpayee: The Definitive Biography by Piyush Pandey
The lore around ‘Satya’ seems to be never ending. The book mentions this about the iconic movie: ‘Mumbai ka king kaun?’ [Who is the king of Mumbai?] If Manoj Bajpayee hadn’t done any other film in his career, he still would have been recognized in Hindi film history because of this one dialogue in Satya (1998). Such was the popularity of this dialogue!
However, it wasn’t a part of the script and was improvised by Manoj during the scene.
Have you read this compelling biography by Piyush Pandey, which captures the life of a true cinematic legend? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
