Yash Chopra was so impressed after watching Manoj Bajpayee's performance in Pinjar that he requested him to be a part of the cross-border romance Veer-Zaara.
Starring Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta in the titular roles of the Indian Air Force officer Veer Pratap Singh and Pakistani free-spirited girl Zaara Hayaat Khan, Veer-Zaara was the penultimate film directed by Yash Chopra. Released in 2004, the cross-border romance won the hearts of the audiences and critics, and turned out to be a blockbuster earning Rs 105 crore gross worldwide.
Apart from Shah Rukh and Preity, Veer-Zaara had a hugely talented ensemble cast consisting of Rani Mukerji, Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Divya Dutta, Anupam Kher, Tom Alter, Zohra Sehgal, Boman Irani, and Kirron Kher among others. The film also featured another brilliant actor, for whom the Yash Chopra directorial became the first and last film with Yash Raj Films.
The actor being talked about is Manoj Bajpayee, who celebrates his 55th birthday on April 23, 2024. Manoj played Preity Zinta's fiancee Raaza Shirazi in a guest appearance in Veer-Zaara. After seeing his National Award-winning performance in the 2003 film Pinjar, Yash Chopra requested Bajpayee to be a part of his next film.
Talking about his experience of working with the legendary filmmaker, Manoj Bajpayee told Humans of Bombay, " I did this film because Mr Yash Chopra called me up and requested me to be a part of it. He was a big fan of my performance in Pinjar and once he saw the film in Delhi with Lal Krishna Advani ji, Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji, he was thoroughly impressed with my performance. That’s when he thought of offering me this role."
"It was a guest appearance; I was there only for four-five days. He treated me as good as anyone on the sets. I was welcomed so royally in that film family, the Veer Zaara family. I enjoyed every moment of shooting with Yash Chopra ji. We used to chat for long, both Yash ji and me. He was very clear in telling me, 'I don’t make films for an actor like you, so I don’t think I would have anything else in the future, but this is very good and it will be great if you agree to do it.' He was such a humble man", the actor stated.
Manoj Bajpayee in Veer-Zaara
Manoj Bajpayee never got an opportunity to work with Yash Raj Films again in his career, and Veer-Zaara remains his first and last film with the production house, which is now headed by late Yash Chopra's son Aditya Chopra.
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