When Juhi Chawla said 'Manoj Bajpayee looks too poor to play the role of a quizmaster' for her film 'Chalk N Duster'

Juhi Chawla and Manoj Bajpayee starred together in Ganesh Acharya’s 2007 drama Swami where they both played husband and wife. And almost a decade later, the two could have starred in another film together called Chalk N Duster, which already had the actress as one of the leads. However, a report by SpotBoyE stated she refused to have him on board and the role was that of a quizmaster.

A source told the publication at that time, “Juhi said he looks too poor to be playing the role of a quizmaster. She felt that they should get a sophisticated actor for the part.”

Manoj Bajpayee on his definition of a hero “Earlier, the heroes used to be of a certain color, certain height, certain hairstyle, and certain swag; they used to romance the heroines and beat up the bad guys. Today, a hero is the protagonist, things have changed, a protagonist is someone who’s driving the story. In Bandaa, the protagonist is a very ordinary man, there’s no stereotypical heroism about him. He has a small car and a scooter, he’s a small-town lawyer who has a son and an aging mother. Here, he takes up a case, a cause, and fights for a minor and take it till the end. He’s fighting inside and even outside the court. Today, heroes have changed completely,” the actor told Firstpost in an exclusive interview earlier this year. He also said, " Box office collections only have to do with the producers, distributors and exhibitors. The actors and audiences don’t really have to look at it. At the end of the day, even if you pay 500 bucks to watch a film, it doesn’t guarantee that it is going to be a good film."