Dharitri Ganguly
Born in a small village called Belwa near Bettiah in West Champaran, Bihar, to a farmer father and a housewife mother, Manoj Bajpayee wanted to become an actor since childhood, inspired after watching the 1973 film Zanjeer starring Amitabh Bachchan. However, his father hoped he would become a doctor.
Reportedly, his parents named him after the legendary actor-director Manoj Kumar.
Though Manoj moved to Delhi at the age of 17 to pursue his acting dream, he was rejected by the prestigious National School of Drama (NSD) three times. Following the NSD rejections, actor Raghubir Yadav suggested he attend director Barry John's acting workshop. John was so impressed that he hired Bajpayee as a teaching assistant. When he applied to NSD for the fourth time, they offered him a teaching position instead of admission as a student.
During his college days in Delhi, his father sent him Rs 200, which he had to manage carefully for the entire month. When he first moved to Mumbai, he lived in a chawl with roommates.
He started a theatre group called 'Act One' in Delhi in 1990.
While he played the dacoit Mann Singh in Bandit Queen (1994), he was initially considered for the role of Vikram Mallah, which eventually went to Nirmal Pandey.
Before finding film success, he acted in TV serials like Swabhimaan (directed by Mahesh Bhatt), Kalakaar (directed by Hansal Mehta), and Imtihaan.
After casting him in a minor role in Daud (1997), director Ram Gopal Varma regretted it and promised Bajpayee a prominent role in his next film, which turned out to be Satya. For his iconic role as Bhiku Mhatre in the film, he arranged his own costumes on a tight budget of around INR 25K.
He reportedly turned down Jackie Shroff's role in Devdas (2002) because he didn't want to do supporting roles at that stage, believing it might harm his marketability as a lead actor. He also reportedly declined roles in Love Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega, Water, and Dangal.
He was part of several films that were announced but eventually shelved, including Barf (opposite Sushmita Sen), All Alone (opposite Diana Hayden), Ek Anokhi Prem Kahani (directed by Mahesh Manjrekar), Indigo (Indo-Canadian film), and Dharti (opposite Rani Mukerji).