Manoj Bajpai
Manoj Bajpai in 2010
Born	(1969-04-23) 23 April 1969 (age 43) Narkatiaganj, Bihar, India
Other names	Manoj Bajpayee
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1994–present
Spouse	Neha (née Sabana Reza) (2005–present)

Manoj Bajpai (born 23 April 1969), also credited as Manoj Bajpayee, is an Indian film actor, known for playing offbeat and unconventional roles.^[1] He first shot into fame with his breakthrough role in Ram Gopal Varma's 1998 film Satya.

Early life[link]

Manoj Bajpai was born in a small village Belwa near town Narkatiaganj in West Champaran, Bihar. He completed his basic education from K R High school, Bettiah. He went to Ramjas College, and Satyawati College (Eve) University of Delhi for pursuing Graduation, and did theatre with Barry John.

Career[link]

Bajpai started his career with a television serial aired on Doordarshan, Swaabhimaan. The same serial also brought Tyagi (Ashutosh Rana) and Rishab (Rohit Roy) into limelight.

Bajpai also appeared in a small role as a cop in Dastak (1996) where he shared screen space with Mukul Dev and Sushmita Sen. He appeared in several small roles in films like Droh Kaal (1994), and Bandit Queen (1994), before getting his big break in the 1998 crime film Satya directed by Ram Gopal Varma. His performance as Bhiku Mhatre won him several awards, as he portrayed the hotheaded and compassionate sides of this gangster, with equal panache. Another important film where he played a dark character was Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's film Aks in 2001, for which again he won many awards.

His work was also appreciated in films like Daud: Fun on the Run (1997), Shool (1999), Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar (2000), Zubeidaa (2001), Road (2002), Pinjar (2003) which earned him the National Film Award, Veer Zaara in 2004 and Raajneeti in 2010.

Veerendra Pratap the role of his character in the movie Raajneeti explains his magic and aura. Katrina Kaif touched the feet of actor Manoj Bajpai as a sign of respect following the premiere of Rajneeti. When Satya released some 12 years ago, Tabu had done the same thing, touching the thespian's feet.^[2]

Personal life[link]

Bajpai was married to a girl from Bihar whom he left after two months and came to Mumbai. In 2005, he married Neha (real name Shabana Raza), a Bollywood actress who worked in movies namely Kareeb, Fiza.^[3] They have a daughter together.^[4]

Awards and nominations[link]

Won

• 1999: Filmfare Award Best Actor - Critics' Choice for Satya
• 1999: Star Screen Award Best Supporting Actor for Satya
• 1999: BFJA Award for Best Actor for Shool^[5]
• 2000: National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for Satya
• 2000: Filmfare Award Best Actor - Critics' Choice for Shool
• 2000: Zee Cine Award Best Actor in a Supporting Role- Male for Shool
• 2002: Star Screen Award Best Villain for Aks
• 2003: Zee Cine Award for Best Actor in a Negative Role for Road
• 2004: National Film Award - Special Jury Award for Pinjar

Nominated

• 2002: Filmfare Best Villain Award for Aks
• 2003: Filmfare Best Villain Award for Road
• 2004: Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for LOC Kargil
• 2011: Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Raajneeti

Filmography[link]