Manoj Bajpayee has played a gamut of characters on the silver screen-from the fearsome gangster Bhiku Mhatre in Satya and the vengeful Sardar Khan in Gangs of Wasseypur to the intelligence officer Srikant Tiwari in The Family Man and Professor Ramchandra Siras in Aligarh. These portrayals have represented various facets of people in today's era, winning fans from all over the world.
But there is still a lot we don't know about Manoj Bajpayee the man.
This definitive biography not only talks about his commitment to his craft and his passion for acting but also reveals the characteristics, quirks and events that have made him the man he is today. Whether it was his early childhood spent in the village where Mahatma Gandhi visited during the Champaran Satyagraha or the special kinship he felt with his father when he discovered that he, too, had the acting bug and had auditioned at the Film and Television Institute of India, the story of Manoj's life and journey from Belwa, Bihar, to Bollywood is one to admire and learn from.
Written by Piyush Pandey, who has worked closely with Manoj for more than a decade, this book gives readers an insider's view on the making of a star.
PIYUSH PANDEY is a journalist with over twenty-five years of experience across print, electronic and web media and is an expert on Hindi cinema. He has worked with leading news channels such as Aaj Tak, ABP News, Zee News, Times Now Navbharat and Sahara Samay in crucial positions. Piyush has written dialogues for many episodes of the Star Plus serial Maharaj Ki Jai Ho. He is a satirist, too, having published three books on satire. Piyush is passionate about movies and is planning his directorial debut.
ROHIT VATS is a journalist with more than a decade of experience in which he has worked with organizations such as the Hindustan Times, Network18 and Zee Media. Immensely interested in films and books, he is one of the leading film critics of the current generation. Trained in film-making at A.J.K. Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia, he has made short films and actively participated in noteworthy productions. Rohit believes films can be a tool for change.
What was the need for a book on Manoj Bajpayee? you might ask.
I was stunned after watching Satya at Agra's Shah Talkies in July/August 1998. Intensely mesmerized by Bhiku Mhatre (played by Manoj), I couldn't figure out where to start writing about the actor. My journalism career hadn't started, and it wasn't the era of social media either. However, I requested everyone at home to watch Satya at the earliest. The way Manoj portrayed the character was not only fascinating but also mysterious.
Even if he hadn't done any other film after Satya, Manoj would have his name 'registered' in the history of Hindi films. Thankfully, he has films such as Shool (1999), Kaun (1999), Pinjar (2003), Gangs of Wasseypur (2012), Aligarh (2015), Gali Guleiyan (2017) and Bhonsle (2018) to his credit-projects that can have an entire chapter dedicated to him in the history of Hindi films.
More than talking about his acting prowess, the reason why this book has been written is to chronicle Manoj's struggles as an actor, which is no less than a film in itself. There are so many twists and turns in his journey-from Bettiah to Bollywood- that you find yourself on his side in the battle against fate.
I have known Manoj for fifteen years since the time senior journalist Punya Prasun Bajpai requested him to write on my blogging platform.
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