Manoj Bajpayee’s wife, Shabana Raza, who is professionally known as Neha Bajpai, was an actress until 2009. She made her acting debut alongside Bobby Deol in the 1998 film Kareeb, directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra is known for directing films like 12th fail, Lage Raho Munna Bhai, Mission Kashmir, Munna Bhai M.B.B.S, and more.
In a recent interview with Mid-Day, Manoj Bajpayee shared a surprising and somewhat humorous anecdote, recalling how Chopra, out of frustration, once bit Shabana’s hand during the making of the film.
Manoj mentioned, "Because Shabana didn’t have any film training of that sort, in the song she was raising a different hand altogether. In the scene, she was supposed to raise her left hand, but she would end up raising her right hand… so for her to raise her left hand without forgetting, Vidhu bit her there. Nobody can do this with me."
"Because she was so new, she didn’t know if the action was appropriate. She thought this was the way how filmmakers behave. She must have thought they are all mad geniuses, they are capable of doing anything they want." he continued.
Despite the star-studded cast and the involvement of renowned director Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Kareeb did not perform well at the box office. While the film garnered some attention for its performances, it failed to make a significant impact commercially.
In a 2001 interview with Filmfare, Bobby Deol reminisced about the incident and shared his thoughts, he mentioned, "For one scene, Neha had to come down the mountain and give me her left hand. But she kept getting confused. When she couldn’t get this right after repeated takes, Vidhu asked her to bite her right hand. She did but she still got it wrong in the next take. After 20 takes, Vidhu lost his cool. And you know what he did? He bit her right hand. I was too shocked to react."
Bobby Deol also mentioned that Chopra would often make things difficult for Neha, frequently yelling at her during the shoot.
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Neha Bajpai went on to work with several prominent actors, including Hrithik Roshan in Fiza, Ajay Devgn in Pyaar Ki Jeet, and Prabhu Deva in the Tamil film Alli Thandha Vaanam. She also shared screen space with actors like Shiva Rajkumar, Irrfan Khan, Fardeen Khan, Dino Morea, and Aftab Shivdasani, among others. Despite her successful career, she decided to step away from films after her role in Acid Factory in 2009.
In his recent chat, Manoj Bajpayee revealed why she is not active in film currently. He said, "She didn’t quit films, she stopped getting work for some reason. Too many politics here and there. She is also an outsider and didn’t have any mentor,"
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