When Manoj Bajpayee's pics were thrown in dustbin right in front of his eyes during struggling days: ‘It was routine’

Manoj Bajpayee had said in an old interview that he had a ‘long period of struggle and anxiety’, when he first moved to Mumbai to become an actor.

Actor Manoj Bajpayee has made a name for himself and worked in acclaimed films such as Satya (1998), Aligarh (2015), Gangs of Wasseypur (2012), among many others. He has also won National Film Awards for his films Satya, Pinjar (2003) and Bhonsle (2018). But there was a time, when Manoj was 'insulted' and his photos were routinely thrown into a dustbin 'right in front of his eyes'.

Manoj Bajpayee had reflected on his struggling days in an old interview. (File Photo)

In a 2019 interview, Manoj had opened up about his 'long period of struggle, anxiety, disappointment and disillusion'. Speaking about his early days in Mumbai, the actor, who hails from Bihar, had recalled how he was treated by assistant directors before he made it in films. He also talked about how he coped and tried to 'turn insult into hope'.

"Like most, who come to Mumbai to make it big, I too had a long period of struggle, anxiety, disappointment and disillusion. It was routine then to give your photo to an assistant director, who would promptly throw it into a bin right in front of your eyes. In order to turn insult into hope, I would choose to work on a character from a story appearing in the daily newspaper and perform for friends in the evening. This went on for a while and I would try to add some of my learnings from street theatre and NSD (National School of Drama, Delhi) into the roles I enacted. This kept me professionally alive and prepared when the first role came along," Manoj had told Rediff.

Manoj was last seen in the film Gulmohar with veteran actor Sharmila Tagore. The film was released last month on Disney+ Hotstar. The actor will reportedly soon begin work on the third season of his Prime Video's series The Family Man.