Manoj Bajpayee Recalls Thinking ‘Ek Din Mera Chehra Hoga Hoarding Pe’ On First Night In Delhi, With 101 Fever

Manoj Bajpayee recently opened up about his struggle, journey from his hometown to Delhi and the courage he mustered on his journey to become the actor he is today.

Manoj Bajpayee recently opened up about his struggle, journey from his hometown to Delhi and the courage he mustered in his journey to become the actor he is today.

Source : IMDb

New Delhi: Manoj Bajpayee recently opened up about his struggle, journey from his hometown to Delhi and the courage he mustered on his journey to become the actor he is today. Talking about how it all started, Bajpayee opened up to Siddharth Kanan in an interview about his first trip to Delhi from his small village in Bihar.

Manoj Bajpayee and hid dreams to become an actor in a village in Bihar

The ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ actor Kannan, “Eighteen and a half, dreams to fit into a big city. Uske pehle Delhi dekha nahi tha. And, mera ek dost tha, Ravindra Chaudhary. He is instrumental in getting me to Delhi nahi to mujhe to dar lagta tha ki Patna kaise jaonga.( I used to be scared about even going to Patna)" When asked if that was because he was 'shielded', Bajpayee said, "nahi, kyunki aap itni choti jaga pe hai, vaha pe dream dekhna bhi gunah hota tha. Dream dekhne se bhi apko dar lagta tha, ki ye aapne dekh lia to pura to hone nahi vala hai, aur aap kilas kilas ke yahi pe jo hai mar jaoge.(No, because you come from a very small place, where to dream is not allowed because you know they are not going to become a reality and you would die in hopless anticipation)"

"Vaha pe apko sapna aa raha hai, bar bar apko sapna aake tang kar raha hai ( You dream of becoming an actor everytime. The dreams perturb you)that you want to become an actor that you can't tell anyone. You can't tell anyone because you know you will be mocked at, and you will be stopped from drifting away. "

Talking about his friend, who advised him to go to Delhi, Bajpayee said that he asked his friend about going to Delhi, who in turn asked him to arrange a ticket first and then they would plan to go together. 

Bajpayee then bought the ticket somehow, and recalled reaching Patna after a long and ardous journey. 

Bajpayee's journey from Patna to Delhi

"Patna station pe pahucnhe, aur intezar kar rahe hai ki kab platform pe Jayanti Janta train lagegi, aur kab hum train mein ghuske aoni seat lenge. Mujhe mere dimag mein ye berth ka concept nahi...kyunki us samah maine train nahi dekhi thi. Yaha pe sone ke lie apko berth book karna padta hai, mere pas voh reservation nahi thi., to pure raste kabhi voh sota tha berth pe aur main neeche akhbar bichake, kabhi main sota tha berth pe, aur us rat mujhe 101 degree bukhaar and I was in hell. I had to take care of myself. Ravindra Caudhary bhi mera khayal rakh raha tha.Jaise Jaise train pahunchi Delhi ke bahr... ITO bridge hota hai, yaha train ruki hai, neeche se traffic jaa raha hai. Big city, for the first time, for me it was like a fairytale land, looking outside the window.(Arriving at Patna station, we were waiting for the Jayanti Janta train to arrive at the platform, eagerly anticipating when we would board the train and take our seats. The concept of berths was unfamiliar to me because I had never seen a train before. Here, you have to book a berth to sleep, but I didn't have a reservation. So, throughout the journey, sometimes I slept on the berth while the other times I laid down below with a newspaper as my makeshift bed. I also developed a high fever of 101 degrees, and it was a dreadful experience. I had to take care of myself, and Ravindra Chaudhary also looked after me. As the train approached Delhi's outskirts, passing by the ITO bridge where traffic was bustling below, it felt like entering a big city for the first time, akin to stepping into a fairytale land, as I gazed out of the window.)

The Big city experience

Taking about his dream to be an actor, Bajpayee recalled the first thing he felt on arriving in a big city like Delhi. The 'Family Man' actor addded, "I still remember looking at the hoardings, aur mere dimag mein kya chal raha hai, I am completely exhausted, bukhaar hai aur main kya soch raha hun, aur aap dekho courage us umar ki, abhi main nahi kar sakta. Ek din mera chehra hoga is hoarding pe. "(I still remember looking at the hoardings, and what was going on in my mind, I am completely exhausted, with a fever, and what am I thinking, and you see the courage of that age, now I can't do it. One day my face will be on this hoarding.")