Manoj Bajpayee Recalls Grappling With Racism During Early Days In Bollywood

The official trailer for Bhaiyya Ji was shared on May 9. The film holds special relevance to Manoj Bajpayee as it marks his 100th project. More so, the film is also his first venture as producer with wife Shabana Raza. Ahead of its release, slated for May 24, Manoj Bajpayee opened up about his early days in the industry.

Manoj Bajpayee recalls facing racism at the time of Zubeidaa's release

For the unversed, Manoj Bajpayee essayed the role of Raja Vijendra Singh, a royal,  in Shyam Benegal's acclaimed film, Zubeidaa (2001). However, in an interview with Siddharth Kannan, the actor explained how he was perplexed at critics pointing out how he simply did not look the part, never mind his acting prowess. He said, "Some critics wrote 'He’s good but he doesn't fit the role, he's good but he doesn't look like a prince.' I thought these people are so liberal and evolved that they do not realise they are such big racists. They were too racist."

Seeking solace in his friends, Manoj recalled also observing how ultimately the greater narrative at play, was how well he essayed his role, adding weight to the film. He added, "Then I showed it to a few of my friends. I said, ‘How should I take it?’ They said ‘Spit it off, this is biased and in its core it is a racist thing.’ But today when I was doing interviews for Bhaiyya Ji, four out of five journalists were talking about my performance in Zubeidaa."

Manoj Bajpayee on how he deals with criticism

The same interview also saw him reflect on how much he has evolved when it comes to dealing with criticism. The only thing that bothers him now is when he is misquoted.

He said, "I personally don't answer the criticism at all. Yes, sometimes I do quote fake news report and ask 'when did I say this.' But if you will talk about my bad performance and my looks, I will not retort back. I will let it go..."