It’s always special to meet your idol, even for a star like Manoj Bajpayee. In a recent interaction, The Family Man actor recalled meeting former West Indies cricketer Vivian Richards during his struggling days and how his advice changed his perspective on life.
In an interaction with Ranveer Allahbadia, Manoj spoke about how only legends can laud another legend and acknowledge their accomplishments. He recalled the first time he met Vivian Richards and how Richards humbly refused to believe he was the best cricketer in the world. Narrating the incident, Manoj said, “I met Vivian Richards at Mahesh Bhatt’s house. I took his autograph. I was looking for work in the film industry at that time. Bhatt sahab used to love me a lot, so I would often visit his house. During our meeting, I told Vivian, ‘I think you are the best player in the world.’ Though I was a Sunil Gavaskar fan at that time, he said, ‘No, Sunil Gavaskar is the best player in the world.’ I told him, ‘How can you say that? I think he is the second best.'”
He added, “Vivian told me something very important. He said that although he was a part of the world’s best team, Sunil Gavaskar played against all the best bowlers, scored so many centuries, and had such a long career. This only Vivian could say; only a legend can talk about another legend like this.”
When asked if he considers himself the Vivian Richards of acting and who he thinks the Gavaskar would be, he responded, “I think it’s Irrfan, Kay Kay Menon, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and the seniors Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Amitabh Bachchan are also Vivian Richards. Today’s Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are Rajkummar Rao, Jaideep Ahlawat, Vijay Varma, Gulshan Devaiah, Jatin Goswami.”
Bollywood actor Neena Gupta and Vivian Richards were in a relationship in the 80s. Neena conceived daughter Masaba Gupta while she was in a relationship with Richards, who was already married to someone else.
On the professional front, Manoj Bajpayee’s latest film, Bhaiyya Ji, is currently running in theatres. The film has minted Rs 5 crore at the box office within three days of its release.
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