4 min learnMumbaiJun 27, 2026 08:09 AM IST
July 1998 was a particular month for each Manoj Bajpyee and his spouse Shabana Raza. He’d simply damaged out as gangster Bhiku Mhatre in Ram Gopal Varma’s seminal crime thriller Satya, and he or she had simply made her debut with Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s romantic drama Kareeb reverse Bobby Deol. Although the latter tanked on the field workplace, Shabana made a number of heads flip together with her portrayal of the feminine protagonist, Neha.
‘Began courting from the day’
Now, Bajpayee tells SCREEN that it was certainly a love-at-first-sight with Shabana when the 2 met at a celebration. “Kareeb was additionally celebrated, and he or she turned the discover of the yr. I used to be fully enamoured by her once I checked out her and interacted together with her. We fell in love. It was from the primary day itself really that we began courting,” says the actor.
It helps Bajpayee professionally too that Shabana is an actor. “My spouse could be very receptive and delicate about these items. It reveals in her resolution that she’ll by no means go to me on set. As a result of someplace firstly itself, she accepted that Manoj is totally different and he or she’s not prepared to just accept this Manoj, the place she’s not feeling accepted or unwelcomed. That was the time she determined she wouldn’t come on set,” recollects the actor.
Manoj Bajpayee in Satya; Shabana Raza in Kareeb.
He confesses that there are occasions when he needs his spouse to accompany her to set, however even then she by no means reveals up for his personal good. “That’s good as a result of as an actor, she understood it’d be silly if she calls for my consideration at this level. What he’s doing and going by way of is totally totally different, the place she doesn’t even come into that zone. It’s a distinct type of understanding,” argues Bajpayee.
Shabana has seen Manoj Bajpayee’s profession develop
Shabana married Bajpayee seven years after courting in 2006, and so they turned dad and mom to daughter Ava Nayla in 2011. Whereas she gave up appearing in 2009, she’s witnessed Bajpayee’s rise from Satya to The Household Man over virtually three many years now. “In folks’s eyes, my profession has modified. However in actuality, nothing has modified as a result of even then, I wasn’t doing the movies that had been coming to me. So, the scenario has remained the identical,” says Bajpayee.
He claims that even his monetary standing modified regularly through the years, as an alternative of him successful a fortune after the success of a singular movie like Satya. “Initially, if you do movies as an actor, you’re not paid nicely. It takes years earlier than you begin asking to your personal value. So, the circumstances stay the identical. It’s simply that there was a little bit little bit of consolation by way of the cash,” provides the actor.
He confesses that earlier, he needed to “suppose twice” earlier than taking even an autorickshaw. “Now, that turned simpler. However it was nonetheless not that simple the place I may simply go to a showroom and purchase a automobile (laughs). It took me round seven to eight years earlier than I began asking for my value,” reveals Bajpayee.
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If one does the calculations, one would assume that six years after Satya got here his supporting function in Yash Chopra’s 2004 hit romantic drama Veer-Zaara, the place he claimed he was paid as handsomely as a lead actor. However Bajpayee maintains that it’s by no means “one movie” that modifications the course of 1’s profession. “That is my expertise within the business. You retain piling up good work and hold creating your credibility, after which folks begin respecting you. To get that entry into any workplace, you’ve to show for a very long time. That’s nonetheless related,” provides the actor.
