Manoj Bajpayee has been part of many iconic films. As the actor turns 55 on April 23, let's throwback to the time when Sanjay Leela Bhansali offered him a role in Devdas. Manoj was being considered for a crucial character in the period love story. The Killer Soup actor, however, declined to play the role in Devdas. 

Manoj Bajpayee rejected Devdas due to this reason

Manoj was among the actors who were approached to portray the character of Chunnillal. Apart from him, Saif Ali Khan and Govinda were also offered the part. Manoj said no to Sanjay since he did not want to play a supporting role. He rejected Devdas on the grounds that he was playing lead roles in all his films and doing a supporting role would hurt his saleability, reported by News 18. Jackie Shroff later ended up playing Chunnilal. However, Manoj always wanted to be a part of a movie on Devdas. But his preference was to play the protagonist rather than the supporting cast. Manoj in an interview with ETimes, once said, “I've always wanted to play Devdas. There have been a few adaptations, but no one thought of casting me. I would love to play that character.”

Chunnilal was a prominent character in Devdas based on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhya's novel of the same name. The romantic tragedy set in the early 1900s is a love story about class divide. Sanjay's film adapted from the Bengali classic featured Shah Rukh Khan as Devdas, Aishwarya Rai as Paro and Madhuri Dixit as Chandramukhi.

About Manoj Bajpayee

Manoj Bajpayee made his acting debut with Shekhar Kapur's Bandit Queen. He later featured in the television show Swabhimaan. Manoj is known for his roles in movies like Satya, Shool, Kaun, Zubeidaa, Aks, Pinjar, Gangs of Wasseypur, Aligarh, The Family Man, Gulmohar, Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai and Joram.

Manoj did eventually have a special appearance in a Shah Rukh Khan-led movie, Veer Zaara. 

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