Manoj Bajpai (born on 23 April, 1969) is a Hindi film actor, known for playing offbeat and unconventional roles. He first shot into fame with his breakthrough role on Ram Gopal Varma's 1997 film, Satya.
Bajpai started his career with a television serial aired on Doordarshan, Swaabhimaan. The same serial also brought Tyagi (Ashutosh Rana) and Rishab (Rohit Roy) into limelight.
Bajpai also appeared in a small role as a cop in Dastak (1996) where he shared screen space with Mukul Dev and Sushmita Sen. He appeared in several small roles in films like Droh Kaal (1994), and Bandit Queen (1994), before getting his big break in the 1998 crime film Satya directed by Ram Gopal Varma. His performance as Bhiku Mhatre won him several awards, as he portrayed the hotheaded and compassionate sides of this gangster, with equal panache.
Another important film where he played a dark character was Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's film Aks in 2001, for which again he won many awards.
His work was also appreciated in films like Daud: Fun on the Run (1997), Shool (1999), Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar (2000), Zubeidaa (2001), Road (2002), Pinjar (2003) which earned him the National Film Award, Veer Zaara in 2004 and Raajneeti in 2010.
Veerendra Pratap the role of his character in the movie Raajneeti explains his magic and aura. Katrina Kaif touched the feet of actor Manoj Bajpai as a sign of respect following the premiere of Rajneeti. When Satya released some 12 years ago, Tabu had done the same thing, touching the thespian's feet.
