ACTOR
Manoj Bajpayee
56 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (56)
- #001
Manoj Bajpayee has won India's prestigious national film awards twice, taking Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor honours for Pinjar (2003) and Satya (1999).
- #002
His family named him after the Superstar Legend Manoj Kumar.
- #003
Manoj Bajpayee turned down Devdas in 2002 because he did not want to play a supporting role. His belief was that other producers relied on him to sell their films, and taking a supporting part would damage his box-office value. Jackie Shroff later signed on to the film.
- #004
Manoj Bajpayee had signed on to Govind Nihalani's "Thakshak" but chose to withdraw, because Ram Gopal Verma had asked him not to commit to small roles during the shooting of Satya.
- #005
Manoj Bajpayee starred alongside Sushmita Sen in Ajay Devgan Production's shelved film "Barf", directed by Vishal Bharadwaj, in 2000/2001.
- #006
The role in Devdas that Manoj Bajpayee turned down went to Jackie Shroff.
- #007
Manoj Bajpayee's younger sister is the world-famous fashion designer Poonam Dubey.
- #008
Manoj Bajpayee played the lead opposite Akanksha Malhotra (Prem Nath's granddaughter) in Padmalaya Production's shelved film, in 2002.
- #009
Manoj Bajpayee appeared alongside Miss World 1997 Diana Hayden in the shelved Indian/French film "All Alone", which also starred Nigar Khan and Bikram Saluja. The film dealt with Mauritius's independence in 1968 and was to be directed by Ritesh Batra. It was shelved due to problems with the producer.
- #010
Manoj Bajpayee turned down the lead role in Water, which was to be shot in the early 2000s.
- #011
Manoj Bajpayee was screen-tested for Shyam Benegal's film Bose - The Forgotten Hero.
- #012
Manoj Bajpayee was the first choice for Saif Ali Khan's role in Love Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega. After his relationship with Ram Gopal Varma soured, Saif Ali Khan took his place.
- #013
Manoj Bajpayee was cast in Mahesh Manjrekar's shelved film "Ek Anokhi Prem Kahani", which starred Kareena Kapoor. Manoj Bajpayee was to play a blind man, but Sanjay Dutt later replaced him. The film was eventually shelved in 2002.
- #014
Manoj Bajpayee appeared in the Indian-Canadian film "Indigo", shelved in 2002, which starred Sarah Polley and was to be directed by Toronto-based director Suresh Natrajan. The film was to be shot throughout Toronto and Kerala and was to tell the story of an American Mohiniyattom dance student who falls in love with a Hindu priest.
- #015
Manoj Bajpayee applied for the film Masaan but nothing came of it.
- #016
Manoj Bajpayee has two brothers and three sisters, and he is the second eldest.
- #017
Manoj Bajpayee's brother is named Saroj Bajpayee, who owns the world-famous Gitansh Designs company in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. He is married to Sabita Bajpayee and has a son and a daughter.
- #018
Manoj Bajpayee wanted the lead role in Paan Singh Tomar, but Tigmanshu refused to cast him.
- #019
Ram Gopal Varma had discussed Bhoot with Manoj Bajpayee. A disagreement later arose between them, and Ajay Devgan was signed instead.
- #020
Manoj Bajpayee was the first choice for the role of Thambe (Sambha) in Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag.
- #021
Manoj Bajpayee was offered the film Dangal but turned it down because he did not want to play a negative role opposite Aamir Khan. Girish Kulkarni later signed for the role.
- #022
Manoj Bajpayee acted alongside Rani Mukherjee in the shelved film "Dharti". This was in 1999.
- #023
Manoj Bajpayee acted in the shelved N. S. Films "Paanchi". (2001) The cast includes Manoj Bajpai, Mahima Chaudhary (who replaced Namrata Shirodkar), Shamita Shetty (who replaced Punarnava aka Pakhi Tyrewala), Bikram Saluja, Sharad Kapoor, Biswajeet, Vaarun Vaardhan, Malay Chakraborty, Brijesh Hirjee and Ehsan Khan, with music by Rajesh Roshan, produced by Yatinder Singhal and directed by Parto Ghosh.
- #024
Manoj Bajpayee acted in Neeraj Pathak's shelved film "Maati", starring Fardeen Khan and Mahima Chaudhary. It was based on Dalit and Thakur themes. It was to be made in 1999/2000.
- #025
Manoj Bajpayee acted alongside his wife Neha in Hansal Mehta's shelved film Netwa. This was in 1999. It was about men who perform drag dance in Bihar.
- #026
Manoj Bajpayee acted alongside Raveena Tandon and Fardeen Khan in E Niwas's shelved film. This was in 2002.
- #027
Manoj Bajpayee played the lead in Partho Gosh's shelved untitled film. The cast also includes Shilpa Shetty, Milind Soman, Isha Khoppikar and Amar Upadhyay. This was in 2004.
- #028
Manoj Bajpayee acted in Ramoji Rao's shelved film Co, starring Mahima Chaudhary and R. Madhavan. It was directed by Anıl V Kumar. This was in 2003.
- #029
Manoj Bajpayee acted in Mehul Kumar's shelved film "Azaadi". This was in 2004.
- #030
Manoj Bajpayee's father's name is Radhakant Bajpai.
- #031
Manoj Bajpayee acted alongside Nandita Das in Partho Ghosh's shelved film "Nazar". The film was highly realistic and aimed at film festivals. Zakir Hussain was approached to compose the music. This was in 2001.
- #032
In 2002, Manoj Bajpayee acted in Rohit Kumar's shelved film.
- #033
Manoj Bajpayee acted in the shelved Genesis Features film "Bitter Rain" (2006). The cast includes Manoj Bajpai, Sonu Sood and Vidya Malvade. The film was to be directed by Prahlad Kakkar. The story dealt with an upper-class housewife from New Delhi being kidnapped and raped. The film was also to touch on the Jessica Lal murder case.
- #034
Early in his career, Manoj Bajpayee was confused with Bhagyashree's husband Himalay.
- #035
Manoj Bajpayee was almost cast in the lead role in Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya (2001). When his relationship with Ram Gopal Verma soured, he left the film, and his then-girlfriend Neha did the same. Sonali Kulkarni later replaced him.
- #036
Manoj Bajpayee has an elder sister named Kamini Shukla. She has two sons.
- #037
Manoj Bajpayee's brother is named Sujit Kumar Bajpayee. He is married and has a son and a daughter. He works as an executive at the world-renowned company NHPC Ltd in Faridabad, Haryana, India.
- #038
Manoj Bajpayee has a sister named Garima.
- #039
In 2007, Manoj signed on to a film titled Nilami to be directed by E. Niwas. The film was shelved.
- #040
In 2007, Padmini Kapila produced the film 90 DAKIKA. Directed by Iqbal Rizvi, the film starred Manoj Bajpai, Rukhsar and Abhimanyu Jain, along with many young actors such as Aditya Bal, Munishtha and Neelam, as well as Harsh Chhaya, Rajeev Verma and newcomers in great roles. The dialogues were by Sandeep Shrivastava, cinematography by Basheer Ali, music by Viju Shah, action by Sham-Kaushal and lyrics by Sameer. The film was shelved for financial reasons.
- #041
When Rakesh Mehra started Rang De Basanti in 2002, the film was to be an Indian/British production made in English and Hindi. Manoj Bajpayee was signed for Aamir Khan's role and Vivek Oberoi for Siddharth's role. Atul Kulkarni was also signed, though his role was not determined. The film was halted after the original producers backed out.
- #042
In 2008, E. Niwas was planning an intense thriller with Manoj, in which Manoj would play a police officer after Shool. The project was shelved for unknown reasons.
- #043
Manoj signed on to Ashwin Kumar's The Forest, but Javed Jaffrey replaced him.
- #044
Lyricist Mehboob was planning to become a director and signed Manoj Bajpai. A. R. Rehman signed on for the music. This was in 2008. The film was shelved.
- #045
Manoj was signed for Mrityudand but dropped out for unknown reasons.
- #046
Manoj was signed for Tezz but withdrew because the role was too small. Boman Irani later took the role.
- #047
Manoj was removed from Jazbaa and replaced by Abhimanyu Singh.
- #048
Manoj Bajpai was offered Ek Se Badhkar Ek, but he turned it down because the money was low. Shekhar Suman signed on for the role.
- #049
Manoj signed on to the Hollywood film Extraction but left the film when he realized Randeep Hooda had the better role. Pankaj Tripathi replaced him.
- #050
Manoj signed on for a role in Dushman but later left.
- #051
In 1997, Anurag Kashyap wrote a script titled Nagarajan, in which Manoj Bajpayee was expected to star. Kamal Swaroop was to direct. The film was shelved for various reasons.
- #052
Manoj Bajpai signed on for Darna Mana Hain but was later replaced by Sanjay Kapoor.
- #053
In 2003/2004, Manoj acted in an untitled Sahara film. The leads were Dilip Kumar and Manoj Bajpai. The producer was Sahara One Motion Pictures and the director was Tinnu Anand. It was to be a courtroom drama.
- #054
For his contributions to art, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri, its fourth-highest civilian award, in 2019.
- #055
While living in Delhi, Manoj Bajpayee was very well known for his theatre acting. During those days, he was dating the theatre actor Dipali Gupta.
- #056
Manoj Bajpayee has been trained in Chhau, a semi-classical dance form.
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