Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui has opened up about the time he did a play with Manoj Bajpayee and said that he did not value Bajpayee as an actor.
Years before their paths crossed in filmmaker Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur, Nawazuddin Siddiqui had met Manoj Bajpayee while working on a play, in which they were playing peculiar parts — that of a tree and a Koala, respectively.
Nawazuddin recalled that in the play, Manoj played the lead role, while he and Vijay Raaz played trees. In an interview, Nawazuddin said that the play had happened much before Manoj Bajpayee broke out with the 1994 Shekhar Kapur film Bandit Queen.
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It was only after watching the film that Nawaz recognised how talented Manoj was, he maintained. “I had done a play with Manoj bhai. Back then, he wasn’t this famous. He was popular in the theatre circuit. I got a part in that play and learnt that the main lead was played by Manoj Bajpayee. After that he got Bandit Queen and then I got to know who is Manoj Bajpayee.Â
On the work front, Manoj Bajpayee will star in the ZEE5 film Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai, while Nawazuddin is awaiting the release of his next feature, Jogira Sara Ra Ra, co-starring Neha Sharma.
