Manoj Bajpayee

Manoj Bajpayee (born 23 April 1969), also transliterated as Manoj Bajpai, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of numerous accolades including four National Film Awards, four Filmfare Awards, and two Asia Pacific Screen Awards. In 2019, he was awarded the Padma Shri.

Born in a small village in Bihar, Bajpayee aspired to become an actor since childhood. He relocated to Delhi at the age of seventeen, and applied for the National School of Drama, only to be rejected four times. He continued to do theatre while studying in college. Bajpayee made his feature film debut with minor roles in ''Drohkaal'' (1994) and ''Bandit Queen'' (both 1994). He had his breakthrough playing a gangster in Ram Gopal Varma's 1998 crime drama ''Satya'', for which he won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor and Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor. He then acted in films such as ''Kaun?'' (1999) and ''Shool'' (1999). For the latter, he won his second Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor.

Bajpayee won the Special Jury National Award for ''Pinjar'' (2003). This was followed by a series of brief, unnoticed roles in films that failed to propel his career forward. He then played a greedy politician in the political thriller ''Raajneeti'' (2010). In 2012, Bajpayee played the lead role in ''Gangs of Wasseypur''. His next roles were as a Naxalite in ''Chakravyuh'' (2012), and a CBI officer in ''Special 26'' (2013). In 2016, he portrayed Professor Ramchandra Siras, in Hansal Mehta's biographical drama ''Aligarh'', for which he won his third Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor and the Best Actor Award at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. He won the National Film Award for Best Actor for his performance in the film ''Bhonsle''. He also won Filmfare OTT Award for Best Actor, for the series ''The Family Man'' (2021). Provided by Wikipedia