Manoj Bajpayee Love Story Shabana Why Never Visited His Film Sets

July 1998 was a special month for both Manoj Bajpyee and his wife Shabana Raza. He’d just broken out as gangster Bhiku Mhatre in Ram Gopal Varma’s seminal crime thriller Satya, and she had just made her debut with Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s romantic drama Kareeb opposite Bobby Deol. Though the latter tanked at the box office, Shabana made several heads turn with her portrayal of the female protagonist, Neha.

Now, Bajpayee tells SCREEN that it was indeed a love-at-first-sight with Shabana when the two met at a party. “Kareeb was also celebrated, and she became the find of the year. I was completely enamoured by her when I looked at her and interacted with her. We fell in love. It was from the first day itself actually that we started dating,” says the actor.

It helps Bajpayee professionally too that Shabana is an actor. “My wife is very receptive and sensitive about these things. It shows in her decision that she’ll never visit me on set. Because somewhere at the beginning itself, she accepted that Manoj is different and she’s not ready to accept this Manoj, where she’s not feeling accepted or unwelcomed. That was the time she decided she wouldn’t come on set,” recalls the actor.

He confesses that there are times when he wants his wife to accompany her to set, but even then she never shows up for his own good. “That’s good because as an actor, she understood it’d be stupid if she demands my attention at this point. What he’s doing and going through is completely different, where she doesn’t even come into that zone. It’s a different kind of understanding,” argues Bajpayee.

Shabana married Bajpayee seven years after dating in 2006, and they became parents to daughter Ava Nayla in 2011. While she gave up acting in 2009, she’s witnessed Bajpayee’s rise from Satya to The Family Man over almost three decades now. “In people’s eyes, my career has changed. But in reality, nothing has changed because even then, I wasn’t doing the films that were coming to me. So, the situation has remained the same,” says Bajpayee.

He claims that even his financial status changed gradually over the years, instead of him winning a fortune after the success of a singular film like Satya. “Initially, when you do films as an actor, you’re not paid well. It takes years before you start asking for your own price. So, the circumstances remain the same. It’s just that there was a little bit of comfort in terms of the money,” adds the actor.

He confesses that earlier, he had to “think twice” before taking even an autorickshaw. “Now, that became easier. But it was still not that easy where I could just go to a showroom and buy a car (laughs). It took me around seven to eight years before I started asking for my price,” reveals Bajpayee.

If one does the calculations, one would assume that six years after Satya came his supporting role in Yash Chopra’s 2004 hit romantic drama Veer-Zaara, where he claimed he was paid as handsomely as a lead actor. But Bajpayee maintains that it’s never “one film” that changes the course of one’s career. “This is my experience in the industry. You keep piling up good work and keep creating your credibility, and then people start respecting you. To get that entry into any office, you’ve to prove for a long time. That’s still relevant,” adds the actor.