Actor Manoj Bajpayee shared some memories with superstar Rajinikanth and Dhanush on Instagram two days after collecting the National Award for best actor at a ceremony in New Delhi’s Vigyan Bhawan on Monday.
“Some moments with the greats during the National Film Awards ceremony,” Bajpeyee said while posting the three photos, one of which also featured vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu, who gave away the awards.
Dhanush and Manoj Bajpayee bagged the best actor awards for their roles in Bhonsle and Asuran, respectively. Rajinikanth won the Dadasaheb Phalke Award at the same ceremony.
This marks Bajpayee’s third National Award, the other two being best supporting actor for Satya (1998) and a special jury National Award for Pinjar (2003).
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Directed by Devashish Makhija, Bhonsle is the story of a retired Mumbai policeman, played by Bajpayee, who tries to shield migrants from local politicians
“Rajinikanth sir is a legend and I’ve always looked up to him for the journey he has had. He came from a humble background and created such a big name for himself,” Bajpayee told Hindustan Times about his meeting with Rajinikanth. “He treats everyone with a lot of humility. I spoke to him but it had nothing to do with cinema but spirituality.”
Bajpayee also spoke about his meeting with Dhanush, “I had a long conversation with Dhanush. We shared our thoughts on the films we like and his films that I’ve watched. He’s a remarkable young mind doing some remarkable films. He’s very inspiring.”
Dhanush and his wife, director-singer Aishwarya, on Monday uploaded photos of the Asuran actor and Rajinikanth with their awards.
Kangana Ranaut earned her fourth best actress award at the National Awards for her work in Manikarnika (2019) and Panga (2020).
