The ups and downs in Manoj Bajpayee’s cinematic career are in no way lesser than the thrills of his highly admired web series ‘The Family Man’. Throughout his acting career, he has won three National Film Awards, five Filmfare Awards and is the recipient of the respected Padma Shri Award. But his current level of success has not come without his fair share of struggles.
The stellar actor has the knack of making explosive comebacks every now and then, that too just when the audience starts thinking that his acting career is going downhill. In one of his recent interviews, he had mentioned that whenever people around him thought that he was gone, he had somehow made a comeback. So, let’s recount his struggling periods juxtaposed with some of his grand comebacks.
To fulfill his dream of becoming an actor, Manoj Bajpayee had moved to Delhi when he was quite young. He applied for the reputed National School of Drama but was rejected multiple times. So, he instead started assisting eminent theatre director and teacher Barry John.
After years of struggle, he got his first decent acting break in Shekhar Kapoor’s 1994 biographical drama film ‘Bandit Queen’. Initially considered to play the meatier role of dacoit Vikram Mallah, Manoj Bajpayee eventually got to play the role of dacoit Mann Singh. The following year, he also did a role in Mahesh Bhatt’s popular television serial ‘Swabhimaan’.
After struggling for a few years and doing minor roles, the gifted actor was discovered by maverick filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma, who offered him the role of a lifetime. The role which would become the hallmark of Manoj Bajpayee’s acting career for years to come. Yes, you guessed it right. The character was Bhiku Mhatre in RGV’s cult crime film ‘Satya’. The film came out in the year 1998 and was a critical and commercial success.
Then in the year 1999, RGV cast him in two other films – the mystery thriller ‘Kaun?’ and the hard-hitting cop drama ‘Shool’. Although the acting chops of Manoj Bajpayee and the films’ quality were unanimously applauded, however, they didn’t exactly set the box office on fire.
Around two years later, he played the role of the antagonist in Rakesh Omprakash Mehra’s stylishly executed directorial debut ‘Aks’ (co-starring Amitabh Bachchan). The same year, he played Karishma Kapoor’s husband in Shyam Benegal’s period drama ‘Zubeida’.
From the year 2002, it seemed that Manoj Bajpayee’s popularity was taking a downward swing. Despite his earnest acts in films like ‘Road’, ‘Pinjar’ and ‘LOC Kargil’, the commercial performance of these films had probably put a dent in his acting career.
In 2004, he acted in Yash Chopra’s romantic blockbuster ‘Veer Zaara’. Manoj Bajpayee’s role was relatively insignificant yet impactful. However, the film’s success was mainly attributed to its masterful direction, its superhit soundtrack, and superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s presence.
Subsequently, Manoj Bajpayee appeared in films like ‘1971’, ‘Swami’, ‘Dus Kahaniyaan’, ‘Acid Factory’ and ‘Jail’. These films did not perform very well financially. During this period, it seemed that the incredible popularity that the actor had gained from his ‘Satya’ days began to somewhat diminish.
This was when Manoj Bajpayee made a grand comeback in Prakash Jha’s multi-starrer political thriller ‘Rajneeti’. The actor perfectly essayed the role of a cunning politician in the film that co-starred Ranbir Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Nana Patekar, and Katrina Kaif. The best part was that the film was a huge box-office success.
Two years later, the actor tasted another box office triumph in Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ films. He later acted in ‘Chittagong’ and ‘Chakravyuh’, which failed to create similar box office magic like that of ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ or ‘Rajneeti’. But in all these films, Manoj Bajpayee’s performance was praised by the audiences and critics alike.
Next year, the actor again made a glorious comeback in Neeraj Pandey’s heist film ‘Special 26’. The film went on to gross over Rs.126 crores at the box office. After the success of ‘Special 26’, he acted in a mix of box-office hits and misses including ‘Satyagraha’, ‘Tevar’, ‘Aligarh’, ‘Traffic’, ‘Naam Shabana’, ‘Sarkar 3’, ‘Aiyaary’, ‘Missing’, ‘Bhonsle’ and ‘Sonchiriya’, to name a few.
Finally, the project which yet again turned the tide in the actor’s favour was Raj & DK’s web series ‘The Family Man’. The first season of the Amazon Prime show premiered in 2019 and became an instant hit amongst the audiences. The series won Manoj Bajpayee immense applause besides a Filmfare OTT Award for Best Actor (Critics).
The highly anticipated ‘The Family Man’ Season 2 will shortly start streaming from midnight on the Amazon Prime Video platform.
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