Manoj Bajpayee, an actor who is frequently considered to be among the best of his generation, endured the most hardship before experiencing stardom. Although the actor has previously talked about his difficulties, he recently described the difficulties he faced in Mumbai in order to provide for his basic needs. He also remembered living in Delhi’s notorious barsatis, which he dubbed “hell.”
Manoj talked about the benefits and drawbacks of living in Barsati while recalling his difficult days in Delhi in an interview. He said, “I still shudder when I think of my days in a barsati. I used to live in Mukherjee Nagar. The only advantage of a barsati is that they are cheap. But it used to get extremely hot in the summers and extremely cold in the winters. If the temperature outside was 40 degrees, it would feel like 45 degrees inside. It was hell.”
Manoj Bajpayee taught at the National School of Drama and honed his acting abilities in Delhi for a number of years before relocating to Mumbai, where a new wave of struggle started. In the same interview, he said, “When I was in Delhi, I used to stay busy. Theatre didn’t pay me, but it kept me busy. I worked for 18 hours. And I never slept hungry, thanks to my friends. Even if I missed lunch, my friends would share half their chapati with me. But, Mumbai was very difficult for me.”
He explained, “I wasn’t good physically. I was also down mentally and emotionally. There was not a lot to do there. I was only wandering from studio to studio in search of work. I was completely broke. It is quiet an expensive place to live. There was no guarantee of where you will find your next meal. I would starve the whole day. Production people would chase us out when we would approach them for work.”
But in the end, Manoj Bajpayee avoided starvation by learning a few tactics in the city of dreams. “Eventually, I learnt how to make food arrangements,” he added. I used to arrive at a set at precisely the moment of their lunch break. I used to start by looking for a familiar face, and then we would talk until I said, “I’m going to grab a bite. Want to join me?” And I would say, “Yes.” We used to arrange the meal with great care.
Manoj’s most recent appearances were in the Netflix series Killer Soup and the movie Bhaiyya Ji.
