Manoj Bajpayee Criticizes Lobbying for Awards: 'It's Against My Principles'

The act of having 4 National Awards up one's alley is not so easy to achieve, but it is the icon of parallel cinema in India, Manoj Bajpayee, who has bagged his 4th National Award recently for his performance in the streaming movie 'Gulmohar'.

He is a National Award veteran who rightly deserves the title. According to him, during times when film fraternity members labor hard for these awards, he believes in doing his job and leaves it upon destiny to reward rather than pushing for awards from his end.

Manoj spoke to IANS and said, "For me, the concept of lobbying for awards goes against my 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 times when everyone lobbies for every award here."

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

Sharing his views 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 could I look at those awards every single day in my house?

That the National Award has come for the Disney+ Hotstar movie 'Gulmohar' is huge for Manoj for several reasons.

He said, "As an actor, I am just 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."

Special mention in National Award goes to those whom the jury feels have 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.