In a recent interview with Siddharth Kannan, actor Manoj Bajpayee shared candidly about a difficult period in his life. He discussed his initial experiences in Mumbai, highlighting the challenges he faced despite his background as a theatre actor in Delhi. Manoj also recalled a particularly tough day in his journey when he encountered three rejections.
Looking back on his early experiences, Manoj shared, “Delhi was different because I was working every day, and was very busy. But I had no work here and that was frustrating. I was completely down and out. My money was getting over and it was not coming regularly. I was not doing theatre here, so I invented some exercises, and that became a routine.”
Manoj went on to recount a particularly challenging experience where he was replaced from three shows in a single day. He recalled a specific incident from a serial where he had just commenced shooting for the day and delivered his first shot. However, he noticed the team huddled together in conversation while he was left alone with just the camera, “I once got a work in a serial. It was the first day of the shoot and I gave my first shot when I saw the team speaking amongst themselves. It was just me and the camera then. 15 minutes later, the chief AD came and told me to change and that he would call me later. I asked if my performance was not good and he said they could not understand it. So I changed my costume. Their shoot got delayed because I, who was their main actor, had been removed,” he added.
Manoj elaborated, “The most uncomfortable situation was when you are leaving and you turn your back towards those people. They are all looking at you, it was such a big rejection for me, that I was just hoping to get out of their sight soon. After this, I got a corporate film, so I went on that set and saw that someone else was doing my role. I called my friend Victor Acharya and asked, and he said it was my day of rejection. I reached close to home and was standing outside a PCO. I had gotten a second lead role in another show, so I called that director and he gave the phone to his assistant. There too I got rejected. In one day, I was thrown out of three projects. Rejection became a part of my life, and that made me thick-skinned which is to date.”
Manoj’s most recent appearance was in Silence 2, and he has already started filming for The Family Man 3. Additionally, his upcoming movie, BhaiyyaJi, is set to be released on May 24, 2024.
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