The Role That Changed My Life: Manoj Bajpayee says Satya allowed him to believe he could do lead roles in films

Manoj Bajpayee first appeared on screen in a one-minute role in Govind Nihalani’s Drohkaal before getting some screen time in Shekhar Kapur’s Bandit Queen the same year. While he continued to work in films and TV serials for the next few years, the actor from Bihar largely stayed under the radar. It all changed in 1998 with Ram Gopal Varma’s Satya, where his portrayal of gangster Bhiku Mhatre transformed his life and career. Twenty five years on, Manoj looks back at his breakthrough role.

Satya starred JD Chakraborty in the titular role alongside Urmila Matondkar. But Manoj, Shefali Shah, and Saurabh Shukla also played pivotal roles and received acclaim for their performance. The gangster drama was also a sleeper hit at the box office. The success gave Manoj Bajpayee overnight fame and he began to be noticed and even recognised. “I didn’t have any dream of becoming a known name. I always thought that if I could do good character roles in films, that would be my success and that would be the epitome of everything. And here came film and a role which completely changed the direction of my career. I started seeing myself as a lead in films,” says the actor.

Satya paved the way for lead roles in films like Shool, Aks, and supporting roles in bigger films like Zubeidaa. But Manoj says that what truly changed after Satya’s success was his self worth. “It also changed my own perception about myself as an actor. Somewhere, it gave me a lot of confidence to experiment with my own self as an actor,” he says.

Manoj won his first National Award for Satya, following up five years later for his anti-hero take in Pinjar. But none of these awards were for Best Actor. That eventually came Manoj’s way in 2021 when he took home the prize for Bhonsle.