MUMBAI: Manoj Bajpayee was being touted as one of the contenders for the National Award this year for his acclaimed performance in “Aligarh”, but the actor says losing out to Akshay Kumar did not disappoint him.
The 48-year-old actor insists that he does not yearn for recognition.
Bajpayee received lot of acclaim for his portrayal of a gay professor in the Hansal Mehta-directed film “Aligarh”.
This year’s National Award for best actor went to Akshay for “Rustom”.
Bajpayee has won two National Awards- best actor in supporting role for “Satya” and special jury award for “Pinjar”.
“For me, it has always been easy to move on from disappointments in life. I am used to it. I don’t base my life and career on any award in this country. Awards shouldn’t be defining you as a person or as an actor,” Bajpayee said.
“The support that I got from the people was quite overwhelming. At the same time, I would like to congratulate all the winners. Let them celebrate. I will get my chances definitely in the future,” he adds.
Bajpayee’s latest film “Sarkar 3” marks his reunion with director Ram Gopal Varma after almost 14 years.
The actor shot to fame with Varma’s 1998 cult hit “Satya” and later worked with him in “Road”, but soon parted ways with the filmmaker over creative differences.
“My equation with him (Varma) is still of a newcomer. I still maintain that. I don’t ask for a script (hard-copy), just listen to the script and trust him as I have always been doing. No questions asked, no ifs and buts. It’s all about what he wants from me in terms of performance,” he says.
In “Sarkar 3”, Bajpayee plays a local politician who is against the involvement of goons in politics.
The actor says contrary to rumours, his character in the film is not based on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal but his look is definitely inspired by him.
“It’s just the look. We wanted to have the look of Kejriwal and that’s about it. The character is completely different, he is a fiery young politician whose
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