Prakash Jha was against Manoj Bajpayee playing Veerendra Pratap in Raajneeti, latter reveals

Manoj Bajpayee, last seen in Zee5’s Silence 2 (also available on OTTplay Premium), got resurrected as an actor with Raajneeti. The actor, currently promoting his 100th film, Bhaiyyaji, just days after The Family Man 3 announcement, spoke about the film. Before collaborating with Prakash Jha on the movie, Manoj took a stand in order to play Veerendra Pratap, which is inspired by Duryodhan in Mahabharata. Prakash wanted Manoj to play another character but the actor put his foot down and the rest is history.

Manoj Bajpayee was sure he wanted to play Veerendra Pratap in Raajneeti

Manoj told Siddharth Kannan that when Prakash Jha called him for Raajneeti, the director gave the actor an option but had a role in mind anyway. Manoj, nonetheless, opposed the decision and took up the role of Veerendra Pratap. The same was adapted from Duryodhan in Mahabharata. “I would like to play him so I can show his side to the audience. He turned the villain in the family rift, so I want to play him,” Manoj recalled Prakash Jha saying.

Prakash Jha started liking Manoj in the role

The actor recalled how many times there was clapping while they were shooting for the movie. Prakash himself started liking Manoj’s performance in the movie.

Karara jawaab scene

Talking on the ‘karara jawaab’ scene, Manoj recalled how he was rehearsing for the scene since night but when he went on sets the next day, the director said that the shot would take place after lunch. Manoj just wanted to go and shoot the scene, but Prakash wanted the actor to rehearse. Once again, Manoj opposed the decision and went ahead with the shoot. He got okay in the very first take in the iconic scene. The shoot ended thanks to Manoj’s ‘brilliant’ performance in the scene.

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