Manoj Bajpayee is celebrating his 56th birthday today. Scroll further to read about his love story with wife Shabana Raza.
National Award-winning actor Manoj Bajpayee is counted among the top actors of the industry. After the arrival of OTT, the artist inside him has emerged more brilliantly. Over the years, the Gangs of Wasseypur actor has given several memorable films to cinelovers. Today, on 23 April, Manoj Bajpayee is celebrating his 56th birthday. On the occasion, let’s have a look at the love story between a Bihar boy and a Muslin girl, who came together and are still regarded as one of the most dignified couples of Bollywood.
Manoj Bajpayee’s first wedding was unsuccessful
Before moving to Delhi to pursue acting, Manoj Bajpayee was married to a Bihar girl, whose identity has never been revealed. This was an arranged marriage and reportedly, they fell apart due to the financial constraints that were caused during the Bollywood actor’s struggling days. After some initial years of their marriage, the couple called it quits. However, did he know that years later, he would meet the love of his life.
It was love at first sight
Manoj Bajpayee’s wife’s name is Neha. However, she changed this name after marrying Manoj. Her real name is Shabana Raza. Shabana is Manoj Bajpayee’s love at first sight. In a conversation, Manoj Bajpayee recalled an incident from Hansal Mehta’s party and said that Shabana had reached the party with oily hair, but despite this, Manoj was lost in her beauty. He said that in such a big party, Raza did not care about anyone’s words and reached with oily hair. This nature of Raza attracted Manoj towards her.
The wall of religion broke down in love
Manoj Bajpayee said that he was very impressed with Shabana’s quality, that in such a big party, she was carefree about what people were saying. He liked the reality in her. After the first meeting at Hansal Mehta’s party, Manoj and Shabana started meeting each other. In 2006, breaking the wall of religion, they got married to each other. They welcomed their daughter Ava Nayla Bajpayee in 2011.
Shabana made her debut with this film
Regarding love, Manoj Bajpayee says ‘It is very difficult to love in the true sense and one has to give up one’s ego for a strong relationship like marriage’. After marrying Manoj Bajpayee, Shabana changed her name to Neha. She made her Bollywood debut with the name Neha in the year 1988 with the film ‘Kaarib’. In this film, she appeared with Bobby Deol.
On the other hand, With the Govind Nihalani-directed movie Drohkaal, Manoj made his acting debut in 1994. Even though it was only a one-minute cameo, Shekhar Kapur was sufficiently impressed to offer Manoj Bajpayee a small part in his movie Bandit Queen. Manoj was signed by Ram Gopal Varma to play ‘Bhiku Mhatre’ in his film Satya four years after and the rest is history.
OTT gave a new dimension to Manoj Bajpayee’s fame
Manoj Bajpayee has also received a lot of love and name on the OTT platform. His ‘Family Man’ series helped him reach the peak of popularity. Its two seasons have been very hit and now the audience is waiting for its third season.
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