Manoj Bajpayee has long been known for choosing roles on instinct, but a new Filmfare conversation finds him putting a precise number on how much of his range Hindi cinema has actually tapped: 25 per cent.
The actor was discussing what success means to him, and his answer was more personal than box office. He framed success not as awards or opening numbers, but as two quieter milestones that any working actor would recognise.
Success begins with a paycheck
For Bajpayee, the first genuine feeling of success is practical. “The first true emotion of success is when you receive a paycheck for the work you put your heart into,” he said. The next stage, he added, is creative freedom: being able to take a project because it excites you.
He also credited luck, saying he has been fortunate to receive good scripts.
The industry’s bad karma with talent
Bajpayee also turned to a harder subject: how the industry has treated actors who do not fit its boxes. He argued that stereotyping has led to talented performers being reduced to nothing on set, in the roles offered to them and in the treatment they received.
He described the industry as carrying “a bad reputation and bad karma of demolishing such great talent,” adding that many people left and “withered away, without any recognition.”
- Success, for him, starts with a paycheck for heartfelt work and then becomes creative freedom.
- Stereotyping, he argues, has pushed gifted actors out of the industry without credit.
- He estimates only 25 per cent of his acting abilities have been used so far.
- The hunger, he says, is still alive and he is ready for the next role.
No more supporting-actor hierarchy?
The conversation also touched on labels. Divya Dutta raised how tags such as “supporting actor” can erase the work behind a performance. Bajpayee said that anger is understandable because the industry is “so colonised” and still believes in hierarchy: main actor, character actor, supporting actor.
He said he has fought personal battles over this, but agreed with Dutta that the rigid label is no longer what it used to be.
Still hungry for the next one
Bajpayee didn’t sound bitter. He called the gap between what he has done and what he could still do “an actor’s greed or an actor’s hunger,” and said he is happy the fire still burns.
For fans, that framing matters: a career like his becomes less about past milestones and more about range still waiting for the right script.
What kind of role would you like to see him take on next? The wishlist is the point — if you can imagine it, he probably can too.
Source: Filmfare