It took Shyam Benegal's genius to see me beyond my looks: Manoj Bajpayee on 'Zubeidaa'

It took the genius of Shyam Benegal to see beyond his looks, says actor Manoj Bajpayee who never imagined himself playing a royal and did so in the 2001 film "Zubeidaa" after the filmmaker convinced him. Benegal, who pioneered the art house cinema movement in the country with films such as "Mandi" and "Ankur", died in Mumbai on Monday evening just nine day after his 90th birthday.

The actor met Benegal a couple of years after his breakout role as the mafia don Bhiku Mhatre in the 1998 crime classic "Satya" by Ram Gopal Varma.

"He sent me a message through Ram Gopal Varma. And Varma told me only one thing, 'Shyam Benegal wants to work with you. He wants to cast you in some role. I don't know what the film is all about but you are not going to say no to anything that he offers. That should be our regard and respect to that filmmaker, so you are going to say yes. You are not going to say no.'

"And I was so grateful to Ram Gopal Varma that I decided that I will do whatever he gives me," Bajpayee told.

So the actor did say yes to Benegal's film but was taken aback when he found that the role was that of Prince Vijayendra Singh of Fatehpur opposite Karisma Kapoor.

"It was his genius to see me beyond my looks. He was very convinced that it is Manoj Bajpayee who will do this role. It was me who was doubting that. He told me, 'These are the photographs of all the kings of India and you tell me whether you are better looking than them or not.'

"He did that to just calm me down about the casting. I was very doubtful about his casting," the 55-year-old said.

"Zubeidaa" was a learning phase for Bajpayee as an artiste, pivotal in changing public perception about what he could do.