Hyderabad: Acclaimed actor Manoj Bajpayee is one of the few outsiders who have survived and thrived in the Hindi film industry which is perceived to be driven by a few powerful families and their allies. The multiple National Award-winning actor's journey in filmdom was not easy but he grew thick skin to stay afloat while he feels that his Sonchiriya co-star Sushant Singh Rajput could not handle politics in the film industry.
Manoj in a recent interview spoke about how Sushant's demise personally affected him as they shared a good bond while shooting for Abhishek Chaubey-directed 2019 film Sonchiriya. Manoj said that SSR did open up about his 'challenges' while they worked together but he never imagined that the young actor would take such a drastic step.
Bajpayee said that Sushant spoke to him about how politics and favouritism in the industry affect him. "Industry mein politics humesha hota hai but it gets dirtier as you climb the ladder of success. I never had an issue as I was stubborn and thick-skinned. He wasn’t and thus could not manage the pressure. He had spoken to me about being worried about these things as it affected him."
Was Sushant a victim of nepotism? According to Manoj, maybe he was not. The 54-year-old actor said that Sushant wanted to be a star but could not figure out how the system works. "If you want to be a Manoj Bajpayee, there is no politics. But he wanted to be a star and there’s too much competition there. Anyone who enters the field to be a star would try their best to clinch that position. However, he couldn’t bear the same. I have realised that he was a pure soul and andar se baccha tha (was a kid at heart). He could not understand the manipulation that was needed."
In 2020, Sushant's demise flared up the nepotism debate in the Hindi film industry as many added fuel to it in pursuit of settling personal scores. The actor was found dead in his Mumbai apartment on June 14, 2020. SSR death case was initially probed by the Mumbai Police but was later transferred to the CBI which is yet to come to a conclusion on the same.
