Manoj Bajpayee, who has gained immense love and appreciation for his web series The Family Man, once revealed that he is truly a family man in his real life too. The ace actor also called his wife Shabana and daughter Ava his bosses at home.
His family keeps him grounded
In an old interview with ETimes, Manoj said, “I am as ordinary a family person as I can be. I try to do justice to being a husband and being a father. However, I get scolding from my daughter and my wife for being completely focused on my work.”Elaborating further, he added, “My daughter and my wife are my bosses at home. I humbly listen to them. I try to follow the rules of the house as much as possible. They dictate my life completely. I love them and they are my lifelines.”Manoj is married to Shabana Raza aka Neha Bajpayee. The couple have a daughter named Ava Nayla.
Actors who inspired him
In the same interview, he spoke about actors he looks up to as idols in the film industry. “My idols keep changing. When I was growing up, Mr. Amitabh Bachchan was the only one who inspired us. Our entire generation was inspired by Mr. Bachchan and his films. Then, when I started doing theatre, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, and Raghubir Yadav inspired me, who were very active in theatre. Even Smita Patil and Shabana Azmi ji inspired me. These people were inspiring in the way they were approaching their roles and their career. Then Barry John became my ultimate idol. His discipline, focus, and his approach still inspire me. I can proudly say that I am what I am because of Barry John. Directly or indirectly, he inspired me to do good at what I do,” he continued.
Films that shaped his dreams
Talking about films that influenced or shaped his mind, Bajpayee shared, “I watched, growing up, mostly Amitabh Bachchan’s films. I come from a small village, so the district town used to mostly run the re-runs of old films. I have seen films of Guru Dutt sahab, Vijay Anand sahab, Dilip Kumar sahab, Sanjeev Kumar sahab, and Bimal Roy. All these people left an impact on my young mind that I wanted to leave that place and go on the path of my dreams.,
