Actors Manoj Bajpayee and Shah Rukh Khan can trace their origins to the same acting group in Delhi, but the two chose very different styles of cinema as their careers progressed. While Shah Rukh emerged as one of the biggest stars in Indian cinema history, Manoj made parallel cinema and off-beat characters his strength. He said that their worlds are so different now that the two of them don’t even bump into each other anymore.
Manoj has earlier narrated an incident from their Delhi days, when he and Shah Rukh went to a club together but the Gangs of Wasseypur actor was denied entry because he wasn’t wearing the proper footwear. Manoj described that as a ‘one-off incident’ as he downplayed their closeness even back in the day.
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During an interview with Jist, when asked if the two actors cross paths these days, Manoj said, “Milna to nahi hota. Do alag alag duniya ke log hum ho chuke hai. To humare raastein nahi takrate. Uss samay bhi dosti aisi nahi thi, uska apna ek friend circle tha, mera apna ek friend circle tha. Ek hi group mein the hum log, jab ek hi group mein kaam karte ho to sabke saath jaan pehchaan hoti hai, sabke saath uthna baithna hota hai, sabke saath khana hota hai. (We don’t meet. We are from two different worlds, so our paths don’t cross. Back then also we weren’t close friends. He had his own friend circle, I had mine. We were in the same group and when people are in the same group, they get to know each other, spend time together).”
The actor once again narrated the club story, and said that he thought it was a funny incident. Manoj said, “Wo ek kissa tha, bada funny kissa hai. But hum dono alag alag duniya mein rehte hai, alag alag choice rahe hai, uss hisaab se humne apni duniya ko chuna. (That was one-off incident, which I thought was funny. But now we live in two different worlds, our choices are different and we chose our paths).”
After starring in several successful theatrical films, Manoj’s career attained new heights after he began appearing in streaming projects. He starred in Prime Video’s series The Family Man, and more recently, appeared in the films Gulmohar and Sirf Ek Banda Kaafi Hai. Several years ago, he also appeared in the Shah Rukh-starrer Veer-Zaara.
When it was suggested in the interview that he’s the streaming industry’s equivalent of Shah Rukh Khan, Manoj said, “No, don’t give me all this. Give me good roles. I understand that monikers are important for media so that people click on stories. But what happens with monikers is that today I am the King of OTT, tomorrow you will make me the Slave of OTT. So that doesn’t help me. What does help is when I get good work…” The actor added, “As far as OTT ke king ki baat hai, main keh raha hun kisi aur actor ko de do. Mujhe chahiye hi nahi. I am just an actor, who is always trying to improve himself. (As far as being the king of OTT is concerned, you give this moniker to some other actor. I don’t want it).”
Manoj was recently seen in Joram and has The Family Man 3 lined up. He will also be seen in Killer Soup, which will release on Netflix this week.
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