Manoj Bajpayee compares his fame to Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan’s stardom: ‘Salman Khan ko lathi charge karna padh jaata hai’
Manoj Bajpayee said that while people respect his films, his level of fame is nothing as compared to Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Amitabh Bachchan’s.
Actor Manoj Bajpayee doesn’t think of himself as a star. He cited the examples of Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, and said that even though the audience respects his work, they’re the real stars. He referred to how a crowd gathers outside Amitabh Bachchan’s house on Sundays, just to get a glimpse of him. Recently, SRK, who returned to starring roles after over four years with Pathaan, has been greeting fans from the balcony of his home, Mannat. Salman also greets a sea of fans from the balcony of his residence in Galaxy Apartments, Bandra, on special occasions.
In an interview with RJ Siddharth Kannan, Manoj said, “Star pata hai kya hota hai? Star hota hai Bachchan saab ke bunglow se kabhi kabhi guzarta hun raasta jam hota hai. At the age of 80, log unko dekhne Sunday ko bhaari sankhya mein khade hote hai. Salman Khan ko dekho lathi charge karna padh jaata hai. Sirf apne balcony se aake haath hilata hai aadmi. Shah Rukh apne jo banaya hai apna pura machaan waha aake khada (Do you know what a star is? When passing by Amitabh Bachchan’s house I see a traffic jam on the road. At the age of 80, a huge crowd comes to see him on Sunday. A lathi charge has to be done to control crowds outside Salman Khan’s house. He just comes to his balcony and waves. Shah Rukh Khan comes and stands on his balcony). So, those are stars.”
Manoj added that people respect his work, but there’s a difference when SRK or Salman appear on screen. He said, “Humlog kya hai, audience jo hai woh humari taraf aankh utha ke dekhti hai with respect. ‘Bohut achha kaam karte hai aap, hum aapki bohut filmein dekhte hai’. Jaise hi Salman, Shah Rukh hote hai toh (The audiences respects actors like me, they tell us we did a good job and they like our films. But when Salman and Shah Rukh come on screen…),” he screamed, as if to mimic the audience’s reaction.
Manoj Bajpayee, who is regarded as one of the finest Indian actors of his generation, broke through with Ram Gopal Varma’s film Satya (1998). Later, he went on to star in films of varying genres, including Kaun, Shool, Pinjar and Rajneeti. He was further propelled to fame with Anurag Kashyap’s crime drama Gangs of Wasseypur in 2012, and featured in several critically-acclaimed films, including Aligarh and Special 26. More recently, he led the web series The Family Man and will next be seen in Gulmohar, which stars Sharmila Tagore.
News Source:- The Indian EXPRESS
