Manoj Bajpayee on system of lobbying for awards: Completely against my principles

The actor, who can rightly be called a National Award veteran, has said that in times when members of the film fraternity lobby heavily for the awards, he believes to do his own work and leaves it up destiny to reward rather than push for awards from his end.

Mumbai: Having 4 National Awards up your alley, is not an easy feat to achieve but, Manoj Bajpayee, the icon of parallel cinema in India, has managed to bag his 4th National Award recently for his performance in the streaming movie ‘Gulmohar’.

The actor, who can rightly be called a National Award veteran, has said that in times when members of the film fraternity lobby heavily for the awards, he believes to do his own work and leaves it up destiny to reward rather than push for awards from his end.

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Manoj spoke with IANS, and said that the concept of lobbying for awards is against his principles.

Reacting to his National Award win, the actor said, “I always feel so ecstatic and great. Whenever I get an award like the National Award, it’s a huge thing for me in the times when everyone lobbies for every award here”.

The actor, who completed 3 decades in cinema, is also a recipient of a Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India.

Sharing his opinion on lobbying for awards, he told IANS, “I must tell you that no award in my house which is kept has been lobbied or has been pushed from my side. That is completely against my principles. I have always said that if I lobby for awards, how I could look at those awards every single day in my house”.

For Manoj, getting the National Award for the Disney+ Hotstar movie ‘Gulmohar’ is huge for many reasons.

He said, “As an actor, I am blessed to be a part of ‘Gulmohar’ along with “The Sharmila Tagore”. To be recognised and to be honoured for being a part of an ensemble piece, is a big thing. There are so many great performances from different film industries of India”.

“The Special mention in the National Award is given to those who the jury feels has done a remarkable performance. I got the Special Mention Award many years ago for ‘Pinjar’ and to get it 20 years later for ‘Gulmohar’, I can’t define what the feeling is right now”.