Netflix's 'Inspector Zende' actor Manoj Bajpayee slams stars being called 'National Crush': 'It's humiliating for people like...'

Manoj Bajpayee—just the name brings to mind a flurry of emotions, doesn’t it? From the intense glare of a man on the edge to the soft, vulnerable side of a character who’s lost everything, Bajpayee is the actor who can make you feel it all. Whether he’s playing a small-town rebel or a cold-blooded killer, the actor’s performances transcend the script, winning our hearts.

Recently, he was seen in Netflix’s ‘ Inspector Zende ’. And in an interaction with Humans of Cinema that also had Anurag Kashyap and Piyush Mishra in the panel, the actor was quoted saying, “Acting ko leke jitni fallacy ab badhi hai na, voh irritating bhi hai, annoying bhi hai, and also, humiliating hai. It is humiliating for him who has been trained as an actor and has been acting for so many years.”

He added, “It is humiliating for me, who has been giving everything to this craft, and suddenly jo hai, agle din aap padhte ho ‘best actor’. Suddenly ek #BestActor aa jaata hai, phir chaar mahine baad another #BestActor aata hai #NationalCrush. You know, the whole culture has changed.”

In an interview with Firstpost last year, the actor revealed, “If you look at me, I haven’t worked with great or senior directors. Yes, there are some names like Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalani, Yash Chopra.”

He added, “When I worked with Ram Gopal Varma, he was a a young director, and then after that, I worked with mostly the young directors of their times, the people who wrote their new chapter in direction.”

At the premiere of Jugnuma, Manoj Bajpayee was having a laugh but was also left quite embarrassed as filmmaker Anurag Kashyap and actors Jaideep Ahlawat and Vijay Varma were seen touching his feet. The video has now gone viral on social media.