Nihad Amani
National awardee Manoj Bajpayee has been a shining star from a small village Belwa, in Bihar. The Bihar ka Babu has been recognized only after 17 years of his struggle.
Tightening his seat belts with a heavy heart due to his emotional break, the actor came to Mumbai (1995) to pursue his career in acting from Delhi where he did theatre.
Professional life:
Since childhood, he wanted to become an actor. Bajpayee had heard about the National School of Drama from actors such as Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah, so he applied. He was rejected three times and wanted to commit suicide afterwards. He then attended acting coach Barry John’s workshop after the actor Raghubir Yadav’s suggestion. Impressed by Bajpayee’s acting, John hired him to assist him in his teaching. After that, he applied at the National School of Drama for the fourth time and they offered him a teaching position at the school instead.
Manoj Bajpayee started his acting career with the serial Swabhimaan aired on Doordarshan. He debuted with Shekhar Kapur‘s Bandit Queen but got recognition in the year 1998 with Ram Gopal Varma’s film Satya. He has also received the Filmfare Best Actor Award for Satya and Shool while he also received the National Film Award (Special Jury) for his brilliant acting in the film Pinjar.
Personal life:
Bajpayee’s less-known first marriage was with a Delhi girl, which broke during his struggling years in Bollywood.
Although not publicised, Manoj Bajpayee first married sometime in the early 1990s, when he was still part of a theatre troupe in New Delhi.
Almost nothing is known about this marriage since the actor never spoke about it publicly. In fact, there is no record of the lady’s name nor a photograph in the public domain. It is speculated though that the first wedlock was an arranged one, and the girl hailed from Manoj’s home state of Bihar but settled in New Delhi with her husband.
In 1994, Manoj moved to Mumbai with which began a new phase of struggle – both financially and emotionally. His wife was based in Delhi, while Manoj had found a new haven in Mumbai.
The disparity in opinion along with the mounting financial stress led to some deep cracks in the marriage. It finally led to a meltdown and Manoj and his first wife split in 1995.
By the time Manoj made complete resettlement to Mumbai, the couple had divorced and were already on independent paths.
Hereafter, he tied the knot with the Bollywood actress Shabana Raza, better known by her screen name Neha. He met actress Neha, right after her debut film with Bobby Deol’s Kareeb (1998).
Manoj and Neha started dating each other only after the release of the film Kareeb. The two got married in 2006 after dating each other for almost 7 years. The couple has seen a successful marriage, and are going strong with it along with their daughter Ava Nayla.