 "Manoj Bajpayee says Sanjay Leela Bhansali doesn't cast actors like him: 'What beautiful thing will he show in me?'")
Versatile and veteran actor Manoj Bajpayee, who recently had the release of his 100th film in the form of Bhaiyya Ji, revealed he couldn’t fulfil his wish of working with many filmmakers since they were in the last leg of their careers during his arrival in the industry.
The Gangs of Wasseypur star also expressed his desire to work with Sanjay Leela Bhansali but jokingly said that he wouldn’t cast an actor like him.
“I couldn’t work with Gulzar sahab. I wanted to work with Govind Nihalani for a film like Ardh Satya or Aakrosh, but I entered the industry at a time when these people were in the last leg of their careers. However, I did get to work with Shyam Benegal in Zubeidaa,” said Bajpayee to Radio Nasha adding SLB’s name, the actor said, “Sanjay Leela Bhansali, par zyadatar filmein voh jo banate hain, mere jaise actors ki zarurat hoti nahi hai vahan. Mujhe kya khubsurat dekha lega woh? Sanjay ke pass kuch hoga nahi dikhane ke liye. (The kind of films he makes, he doesn’t need actors like me. What beautiful thing will he show in me. Sanjay mustn’t have anything to show me). But he is a filmmaker of his own kind. He is unique.”
Interestingly, SLB offered Manoj the role of Chunnilal in Shah Rukh Khan starrer _Devdas_ , which was played by Jackie Shroff after Bajpayee’s rejection.
“Yes, I was offered Jackie Shroff’s role in Devdas, but I immediately said no. I told Sanjay, ‘Sanjay, yaar, meri toh hamesha se ichchha thi Devdas karne ki (I always wanted to play Devdas). That film became a superhit, but I have no regrets about letting it go. I’d wanted to play Devdas since my theatre days, ever since I’d watched Dilip Kumar’s film, or read the book. But I never felt bad,” said Manoj in an earlier interview with Sushant Sinha on YouTube
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