Bollywood actor Manoj Bajpayee, who is gearing up for the release of Bhaiyya Ji, recalled being called a porn star by film critics. He opened up about his initial days in the film industry and said that post Satya, he received a lot of biased reviews for his movies. In one of his latest interviews, Manoj said he also faced racism in Bollywood back then.
The 53-year-old actor said that he recently received praise for his performance in the film Zubeida, however, when the film was released in 2001, people criticised him and said he doesn't look like a prince.
"Some critics wrote ‘He’s good but he doesn't fit the role, he's good but he doesn't look like a prince.' I thought these people are so liberal and evolved that they do not realise they are such big racists. They were too racist," he said in an interview with Siddharth Kanan.
He added, "I have many newspaper cuttings (reviews) where people have been very brutal, lethal and racist." However, Manoj said he doesn't react to criticism.
The actor also recalled being called a 'porn' star after the release of Fareh in 2005. The film also starred Shilpa Shetty and Shamita Shetty. "The film wasn't well made and it failed, it happens sometimes. Somebody wrote, ‘Now Bhikhu Matre of Satya has become a porn star.’ That hurt me, it really offended me. No reviewer has the right to go that dirty. You can talk about my film, how it is made. How does that make me a porn star? There is nothing I did in that film to suggest that," he said.
Meanwhile, on the work front, Manoj is gearing up for the release of Bhaiyya Ji, which is his 100th film. Directed by Apoorv Singh Karki, it also stars Zoya Hussain, Suvinder Vicky, Vipin Sharma and others.
 Photo CO.jpeg)