Manoj Bajpai has his glory day

His is the classic case of a rejected actor who, by sheer perseverance, has come to be acknowledged as one of the finest in the Bollywood firmament today.
Sure, 46-year-old Manoj Bajpayee may not belong to the category of conventional, muscle-rippling, macho heroes who rule the Bollywood marquee. Yet, he's the first actor to go to, when it comes to projects which go against formulaic entertainment.
I can vouch for the fact that he relishes taking risks, leaping at an offer that allows him to make an impact on the next level. The role of a Rajasthani royal in Zubeidaa, which I wrote for director Shyam Benegal, was nixed by several actors (including Anil Kapoor), since the theme happened to woman-centric. No one wanted to play second fiddle to Karisma Kapoor, who had more footage, inevitably, since the story was narrated from her point of view. Benegal had also approached Aamir Khan for the part, only to be politely told "no".
Indeed, the project wouldn't have taken off if Benegal hadn't thought of Bajpayee, despite reservations from all and sundry that the actor didn't look like 'royalty'. To that, Benegal had retaliated, "The maharajas and princes of Rajasthan don't look like our Bollywood heroes. They aren't fair-complexioned or handsome in the conventional sense of the word. Actually, there's something extraordinary about Manoj's deep-set eyes, which he uses very expressively."
As it happened, Bajpayee's participation in Zubeidaa gave the film a realistic edge and illustrated the fact that, when it comes to casting, a glamorous stereotype isn't mandatory.
I recall the Zubeidaa incident to underscore his versatility. Be it the unreservedly applauded Bhiku Mhatre of Satya and the righteous cop of Shool to the grey-shaded abductor of Pinjar, Bajpayee can boast of an impressive body of work ever since he was first seen in subsidiary parts in Bandit Queen and Drohkaal.
Not that he's the sort to be boastful, opting instead to avoid publicity or hype, or complain that, at the outset, he was rejected thrice on applying as a student to New Delhi's National School of Drama.
Perhaps he does suffer from an Achilles heel. The leading film production banners haven't exactly chased him. Neither has he chased them. Result: in the typical mega-budget Bollywood films, he has merely made fleeting appearances, as in Yash Chopra's Veer-Zaara, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's Aks, JP Dutta's LOC: Kargil and Prakash Jha's Rajneeti.
Moreover, on being confronted with a sketchy part in one of Ram Gopal Varma's films, he had the guts to refuse the offer. Varma, who can be vicious when rebuffed, went to town huffing that the actor had become too big for his boots. Bajpayee owed him, he felt, since it was the role of Bhiku Mhatre in Satya, directed by Varma himself, that was his strongest claim to fame at the time.
The unpleasant controversy fizzled out. Varma is now down and out, and retreated into the shadows. However, his Bhiku Mhatre is on a roll - at this very moment for an outstanding performance as a 60-something university professor embroiled in controversy, in the Hansal Mehta-directed Aligarh. Culled from a true story, the sensitive take on a topical theme has been amassing acclaim on the preview circuit.
Unconditional positive responses to the film as well as Bajpayee's deeply moving performance have been all over social media sites of late.
Expectedly, at one of the preview screenings, Bajpayee was a bundle of nerves. When I asked him to chill, he murmured, "Aligarh is unlike anything I've done before. It's daunting to do justice to a real-life character, who is no more. Also, I can never be complacent... I feel as if I'm appearing for an examination all over again."
At the end of the show, attended (among others) by eminent filmmakers Sai Paranjpye and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and theatre stalwart Barry John, the actor was embraced and congratulated profusely.
Bajpayee's wife, Neha - the pretty actress of Kareeb and Fiza fame - who has taken a sabbatical from the movies, confided to me, "When I saw Aligarh ?at its first screening for the cast and technical crew, I was so moved that I couldn't sit through the entire film. I rushed out halfway through, jumped into a rickshaw and went home. Perhaps I was overwhelmed. At the screening today, I was in control but I won't tell Manoj that. He gets embarrassed ?by flattery."
With Aligarh, the boy from a small town in Bihar has asserted that whatever the odds, every gifted actor has his glory day.