Manoj Bajpayee says he felt bad about not winning National Award for some earlier performances, had given up hope
Manoj Bajpayee says he felt bad that some of his earlier performances were overlooked by the National Awards jury and had given up all hopes of winning an award.
Earlier this month, Manoj Bajpayee won the third National Award of his career. He was honoured with the Best Actor award for his performance in Bhosle. In an interview, he revealed that he had given up hope of winning a National Award after a few of his earlier performances went unrecognised.
Manoj said that he felt bad and gave up hope for a few years. When his performance in Aligarh was snubbed by the National Awards jury, there was a huge outcry on social media, and he felt that he did not need to comment, as the audience took it upon themselves to express their discontentment with the decision.
In an interview with Siddharth Kannan, Manoj said, “3-4 performances the mere past mein, unme mila nahi mujhe. Usko lekar social media pe bada hungama bhi hua, logon ne protest kiya. Mujhe laga ki yeh log mood mein hai nahi mujhe dene ki toh ab saari ashayein chhod deta hoon (I did not get the National Award for 3-4 of my earlier performances and there was an outrage on social media. A lot of people protested. I thought the jury was not in the mood to give me an award so I gave up all hopes).”
Manoj, who has just recovered from Covid-19, was sleeping due to fatigue when the National Award winners were announced. He woke up to several congratulatory messages.
Admitting to feeling bad about not winning for some of his performances, Manoj said that he decided to focus on work, instead of sitting in anticipation of an award, which he felt would not come his way. He talked about the outrage on social media when his performance in Aligarh was snubbed by the National Awards jury as well as a mainstream awards function, where it was not even nominated.
“Mujhe lagta hai darshak hi mera kaam kar dete hai. Aur jab woh kar dete hai (I think the audience expressed displeasure on my behalf. And when they do it), then you feel, ‘I don’t have to say anything.’ They are actually taking the mantle of registering the protest or discontentment. That is why I don’t say anything,” he said.
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