Manoj Bajpayee ( Actor ) age, wiki, career, net worth, family, and more

Manoj Bajpayee is a famous Indian actor and producer. He is also the recipient of three National Awards for the Hindi films ‘Satya’ (1999), ‘Pinjar’ (2004), and ‘Bhonsle’ (2021). In 2019, for Manoj’s contribution to the arts, he was honoured with Padma Shri.

About

Early life and education

Manoj Bajpayee, who is also spelled as Manoj Bajpai, was born on April 23, 1969, in Belwa Village in Narkatiaganj, West Champaran, Bihar. As of 2023, he is 54 years old and his zodiac sign is Taurus. He started his schooling in a hut school in his village and later attended St. Stanislaus Mission Middle School and Khrist Raja High School in Bettiah, Bihar. He continued his education at Maharani Janaki Kunwar College, where he completed his class 11 and 12.

During his school days, Manoj participated in various doha and poem competitions. After completing his higher education, he pursued a BA in History Hons from Ramjas College in Delhi, where he also participated in various stage plays and nukkad nataks. He further performed in several theatre plays of the Hindu College Dramatics Society, including William Shakespeare’s plays, Comedy of Errors, Ganashatru, and Ginni Pig.

After completing his graduation, Manoj applied for admission to the National School of Drama (NSD) in Delhi, but he was rejected twice. He then joined the Sambhav Theatre Group, Delhi, where he completed a one-year acting training course for a fee of Rs 2500. Despite his financial constraints, he persevered and later joined the Barry John Acting Studio, where he became batchmates with the famous Indian actor Shah Rukh Khan.

Family of Manoj Bajpayee

Manoj’s father, Radhakant Bajpayee, was a farmer, who died in October 2021 and his mother, Geeta Bajpayee, died on 8 December 2022. Manoj is second among his five siblings. Bajpayee’s elder sister’s name is Kamini Shukla. Moreover, Manoj’s younger sister, Poonam Dubey, is a fashion designer and of his younger sisters’ names is Garima Bajpayee. Manoj’s brother, Sujit Kumar Bajpayee Vinay, is a joint secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).

During the premiere of the Hindi film ‘Satya’ in 1998, Manoj met the beautiful Indian actress Neha aka Shabana Raza. It was love at first sight for Manoj, who was captivated by Neha’s simplicity and courage to attend a Bollywood party wearing spectacles and oily hair – a look that was not common for actresses at that time.

After becoming good friends, Manoj and Neha fell in love with each other and dated for almost eight years before tying the knot in April 2006. Their love story blossomed further when they welcomed their daughter, Ava Rayla, in 2011.

Manoj’s journey from an arranged marriage to finding true love with Neha is also a testament to the power of fate and love.

Career

Manoj Bajpayee’s journey as an artist began with theatre. He started as a member of the Barry John theatre action group in India for a salary of Rs 1200. Later, he along with other theatre artists, formed a group called ‘The Act One’ in Delhi, performing in several plays.

Manoj made his Bollywood debut in 1994 with ‘Bandit Queen’. For this he has also gained immense popularity for his role as Bhiku Mhatre in the 1998 Hindi film ‘Satya.’ He acted in several Hindi films like ‘Shool,’ ‘Aks,’ ‘LOC: Kargil,’ ‘Raajneeti,’ ‘Gangs of Wasseypur,’ and ‘Bhonsle.’ However, after the release of the Hindi film ‘Inteqam: The Perfect Game’ in 2004, his career suffered a setback.

But, he was appreciated for his performances in films like ‘Kaun,’ ‘Zubeidaa,’ ‘Special 26,’ and ‘Sonchiriya.’

Manoj also made his debut in Telugu cinema with ‘Prema Katha’ in 1999, and appeared in a few other Telugu films like ‘Happy,’ ‘Puli,’ and ‘Vedam.’ He made his Tamil debut with ‘Samar’ in 2013 and also appeared in ‘Anjaan.’

Short films and Web series

In addition to films, Manoj has also worked in Hindi short films like ‘Jai Hind,’ ‘Taandav,’ ‘Kriti,’ and ‘Ouch.’ He made his TV debut in 1993 with Doordarshan’s serial ‘Shikast’. Moreover, he has acted in Hindi TV serials like ‘Imtihaan,’ ‘Swabhimaan,’ and ‘Badaltey Rishte.’

Manoj also made his web series debut with the Amazon Prime Video series ‘The Family Man’ in 2019. In this series, he played the role of Srikant Tiwari, and appeared in the second season of the series. In 2021, he appeared in the segment ‘Hungama Hai Kyon Barpa’ in the Hindi web series ‘Ray’ on Netflix, and is also appearing in the new web series named ‘Gulmohar’ on Hotstar.

Others

Manoj has worked as a host in the Hindi TV quiz show ‘Kam Ya Zyaada’. Also, he has lent his voice to Hindi animated films like ‘Ramayana: The Epic’ and ‘Mahabharat.’ He started his production company, Manoj Bajpayee Productions Private Limited, in Mumbai in 2014. Then, he produced the Hindi films ‘Missing’ and ‘Bhonsle.’

He has also worked as a singer in a few music videos like ‘Bambai Main Ka Ba’ and ‘Kudi Meri’. Also, as a narrator in the Discovery Plus TV show ‘Secrets of Sinauli.’

Some exciting facts about Manoj Bajpayee

• Manoj Bajpayee’s full name is Manoj Bajpayee Bhattacharya.
• He was born in a small village called Belwa near the town of Narkatiaganj in West Champaran district of Bihar.
• His father was a farmer and his mother was a housewife.
• He is a graduate in History from Satyawati College, Delhi University.
• Manoj was rejected multiple times by the National School of Drama (NSD). This was before he finally got accepted in his fourth attempt.
• In the early days of his career, he used to work as a teacher in a school in Delhi.
• He was also a part of a street theatre group called ‘Bahroop’ in Delhi. This was before he joined Barry John’s theatre group.
• He had to learn the Bhojpuri language for his role in the film ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’. As his character spoke in the Bhojpuri dialect.

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Also read: Gulmohar