look news india
Manoj Bajpayee, one of the most serious and veteran actors of Bollywood, is known for his outspokenness and excellent acting. Recently, he has shared an old and very funny experience of working with Hindi cinema’s biggest and famous director Yash Chopra in the superhit film ‘Veer-Zaara’. Manoj Bajpayee, who came as a guest on Shekhar Suman’s popular chat show ‘Shekhar Tonight’, said that late filmmaker Yash Chopra’s outspoken honesty and big heart has left an everlasting deep impression on his mind and heart. Manoj Bajpayee played a small but very powerful cameo role in this blockbuster romantic film starring Shahrukh Khan and Preity Zinta, released in the year 2004.
Manoj Bajpayee, while reminiscing old memories in the show, said that he was so desperate and excited to work under the direction of Yash ji that he immediately said yes to this film without even listening to the entire story and script. Manoj revealed that Yash Chopra himself had called him after seeing his exceptional acting in the film ‘Pinjar’. Manoj told, ‘Yash ji called me directly and said very lovingly that after seeing your work in Pinjar, I felt that no one else could play this special character of Veer-Zara except you.’ As soon as Manoj heard these magical words of praise from Yash ji, he gave his consent for the film without wasting a moment.
When Yash Chopra spoke from his heart without hesitation
Manoj Bajpayee laughingly admitted that he was so desperate to go to Yash Chopra’s set that he did not even want to listen to the scene. He had clearly told Yash ji, ‘You just tell me the date when to come, explain a little about the character and I will reach the set prepared.’ However, on the insistence of Yash Chopra, his son Aditya Chopra called Manoj and narrated all the scenes of his part in detail. Manoj told that when the whole story was over, he jokingly requested Yash Chopra that Yash ji, please remember me for some big and main role in future.
The answer given by great filmmaker Yash Chopra to this innocent request was very surprising and completely true. Manoj recalled that moment with a smile and said, ‘Yash ji lovingly placed his hand on my shoulder and said – Son, where can I make films for serious actors like you.’ Yash Chopra further explained very honestly that the kind of commercial and romantic films or roles he makes would probably never be liked by a deep and realistic artist like Manoj. Manoj said that Yash ji did not give him any false consolation or empty promise and it was his bitter but true honesty that I liked the most, which is close to my heart even today.
A check equal to that of the lead actor was sent for a small role.
During this interesting conversation, ‘The Family Man’ star made another big and shocking revelation. He told that initially he did not want to take any fee or money from Yash Chopra for this very small role. Manoj said, ‘I had clearly told Yash ji that I am doing this work in your respect and will not take a single rupee for it. But Yash ji was a self-respecting person, he was not ready for this at all. According to the actor, Yash Chopra insisted on giving the money and after the completion of the film, he sent such a check to his house, seeing the amount of which Manoj was shocked. That check was equal to the entire fee that Manoj received as a lead actor in a film at that time.
When suitcases full of money were rejected after the bumper success of ‘Satya’
Manoj said proudly, ‘Yash ji fulfilled the promise of respect and gave me as much money as the lead actor. The experience of working with him was truly like that of a king. After this, Manoj Bajpayee also talked openly about the difficult decisions of his career after the bumper success of Ram Gopal Varma’s film ‘Satya’. He told that his gangster character of ‘Bhiku Mhatre’ had become so popular in the entire country that overnight he was flooded with offers full of money. However, the biggest problem was that 99 percent of those offers were only for villain or goon roles, which Manoj did not want to repeat again.
While sharing his thoughts in Shekhar Suman’s show, Manoj said, ‘I did not want to spend my entire life just becoming a typecast villain on screen. I wanted to be a part of good stories and experimental characters. He told that during that period, instead of running after money, he faced hardships and waited for the best films like ‘Shool’, ‘Zubaida’ and ‘Pinjar’, which later took his career to a legendary level. Let us tell you that these days Manoj Bajpayee is spreading his acting skills in his recent release and popular film ‘Governor’ directed by Chinmay D. Mandlekar, in which famous actress Ada Sharma is also seen in the lead role along with him.
