Manoj bought costumes for ‘Satya’ himself: He got ₹25,000 from the production team; bought clothes from the local market
Manoj Bajpayee did his own styling for the role of Bhikhu Mhatre in his much talked about film Satya. He also went and bought the clothes himself. For this, he got 25 thousand rupees from the production team. Manoj Bajpayee said that at that time small actors had to work on their styling and costumes themselves. He was also allotted a budget for Satya. Manoj said that he went to Bandra’s Hill Road Market and bought all the clothes. Let us tell you, the film Satya, directed by Ram Gopal Varma, was released in 1998. In this film, Manoj played the role of gangster Bhikhu Mhatre. This film itself established Manoj as a top actor in the industry. Manoj Bajpayee bought all the clothes from Bandra’s Hill Road Market. Talking to Galata India, Manoj Bajpayee said – I was allotted 25 thousand rupees to buy a dress for the character of Bhikhu Mhatre. I wanted to buy an absolutely authentic dress for that character. For this I went to Hill Road Market in Bandra. I bought all the clothes from there. All the clothes you have seen Bhikhu Mhatre wearing in the film were taken from Hill Road. Small stars used to work on costumes themselves. Manoj further said- In those days small stars had to work on their styling and costumes themselves. Although there were costume dadas (who are responsible for dressing the actors), they would stitch the clothes in a simple way and give them. If I wanted, I could have taken help from them, but I thought it better to do it myself. Manoj used to look for costumes himself for his films. Manoj said that in the beginning of his career he decided the costumes for many films himself. Whenever a film came to him, he would start thinking about his character. Along with thinking about the character, he also got to know which clothes would look good on him in which character. Manoj won the National Award for playing ‘Bhikhu Mhatre’. Manoj made his debut with Shekhar Kapur’s film ‘Bandit Queen’. However, Manoj considers ‘Satya’ as his real debut and this film changed his life. He was recognized all over the country for the role of ‘Bhikhu Mhatre’. He also received the National Award for Best Supporting Actor for this role.