Pankaj Tripathi had preserved Manoj Bajpayee’s slippers; find out why

Mumbai: Actor Manoj Bajpayee did not have any godfather in the Hindi film industry. He has created a niche for himself by the sheer dint of his hard work. In spite of the struggle he has had to go through, Manoj Bajpayee is a well-established and successful actor in the film industry. He has his own identity which he has built himself.

Bihar born-Manoj Bajpayee turns a year olded Friday. On this occasion here is wonderful story to share about Manoj and actor Pankaj Tripathi. When Manoj was shooting for Gangs of Wasseypur, he was staying at Maurya Hotel in Patna. Pankaj was working as a kitchen supervisor in the same hotel.

Narrating the story on the The Kapil Sharma Show, Pankah said he got the information from others that Manoj was staying at the hotel. The news surprised him and Pankaj at that time was a theatre buff and he was desperate to meet Manoj. So he told his colleagues that whenever, Manoj would order room service, he would take the order.

It went on as planned. Pankaj went to Manoj’s room, served the order and told the latter, ‘Bhaiyya, pranaam, even I am into theatre,”. He also touched the feet of Manoj.

Manoj checked out of the hotel the next day and left the city. However he left his slippers behind. Pankaj got to know about it and kept the slippers with him. “Kyun? Eklavya ki tarah agar main inke khadau mein apna paer daal lu (Why? Because like Eklavya I, too, could be good enough to slip into his slippers)…” said Pankaj.

Manoj has delivered many hits in his career. He came to Delhi at the age of 17 to fulfil his dreams. He wanted to study at the National School of Drama, but failed to get admission after four attempts. So he went into theatre to make ends meet.

Manoj made his screen debut in 1994 with Shekhar Kapur’s Bandit Queen. Even though he had a small role, he managed to garner attention. After that there was no looking back. He gave hits like Satya, Shool and Gangs of Wasseypur.