Actor Manoj Bajpayee recalled the advice that his father-in-law gave him about not lashing out at people who display blatant bigotry. In an interview, he addressed the anti-Bihar sentiment that can be observed in society, and said that it stems from a lack of education and empathy. The actor hails from Bihar, and said that everybody from the state has a built-in ambition to achieve greatness.
Appearing on Ranveer Allahbadia’s podcast, the actor was asked if he faced a bias when he first moved to Delhi as a college student. He said, “Of course. But you have to deal with it wisely. My father-in-law used to say, ‘If someone makes fun of your religion, if they make fun of where you come from, never retaliate. Just smile’. Why? Because in your mind, you’re thinking, ‘What a fool you are and what a pathetic upbringing you had’.”
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Manoj said that Indians are often biased against each other. “We call all South Indians ‘Madrasis’. How uninformed are we? We don’t even know that there are different states in the South, and they all have their distinct cultural identities. I meet so many people who don’t even know that Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are different states! Even within UP itself, there is a cultural difference between the east and the west. You have to be informed, you have to study, you have to read.”
Manoj also drew connections between being well-informed and being a good actor. He said that it is vital for an actor to be aware of the world in order to convincingly play different people. Manoj will next be seen in the action film Bhaiyya Ji, and has begun filming the third season of Prime Video’s The Family Man.
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