Capturing the good, the bad, and the ugly of Indian society through his morally grey characters, Manoj Bajpayee is quite a chameleon of an actor. If you wish to watch the best of his movies and TV shows, we’ve got you covered with an ultimate ranking of his finest works and a handy guide to stream them.
Where to stream Manoj Bajpayee’s filmography?
Many of Manoj Bajpayee’s OTT work can be streamed on Prime Video, Netflix and ZEE5. These include the Prime original The Family Man and Netflix releases like Killer Soup and Ray. Interestingly, his 2023 legal drama Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai was originally a ZEE5 release but it garnered so much popularity that the movie also had a brief run at the cinemas. Most of his other theatrical releases can be streamed on these platforms along with Shermaroo, Eros NOW, Hotstar etc.
Manoj Bajpayee’s Career at a Glance
After debuting as a dacoit in Shekhar Kapur’s biographical drama Bandit Queen, Manoj Bajpayee began establishing his niche in character roles. After a string of small parts, he truly shone in the limelight for playing the dreamy-eyed Mumbai gangster Bhiku Maatre in Ram Gopal Varma’s cult crime drama Satya. Playing the titular protagonist’s partner in crime, Bajpayee’s National Award-winning portrayal humanised gangsters in Bollywood, adding a touch of emotionality behind their ruthless, blood-soaked life.
A good deal of Bajpayee’s best roles include more crime and thriller genre favourites like Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur and Varma’s psychological mystery Kaun. At the same time, Bajpayee can evoke sympathy with underdog heroes and morally righteous lawmen. Some classic examples include Shool in which he plays a duty-bound cop waging his personal crusade against corruption in the system, Sirf Ek Banda Kaafi Hai in which he portrayed a lawyer defending a girl sexually assaulted by a godman, and Special 26 that found him playing a committed tax official who is duped by a gang of scamsters.
Apart from his mainstream appearances, Bajpayee has also been a film festival darling with many of his gut-wrenching performances finding acclaim in international film festivals. Gangs of Wasseypur’s praiseworthy debut at Cannes aside, Bajpayee’s other globally recognised credits include the social drama Aligarh in which he played a homosexual literature professor whose life turns upside down after his sexuality is forcibly revealed to the public. A bold and challenging role performed with sincerity and subtlety, Aligarh touched upon the conservative attitudes around sexual identities that still persist in the country. Other festival favourites include Joram, a human drama exploring the challenges of a father to take care of his daughter in the face of urban development and poverty, and Gali Guleiyan, a psychological drama starring Bajpayee as a voyeuristic shopkeeper who spies on strangers in Old Delhi.
Movies aside, Bajpayee’s career received a major boost on OTT platforms ever since he starred in the action-drama The Family Man that followed his double life as an undercover anti-terrorist agent and the breadwinner of his ordinary family.
Why is Gangs of Wasseypur Part 1 Manoj Bajpayee’s Best Movie?
While Manoj Bajpayee has excelled in some memorable supporting roles, a performance synonymous with his very name is that of the foul-mouthed rural gangster Sardar Khan in the first chapter of Anurag Kashyap’s crime epic Gangs of Wasseypur. The crime drama, influenced by the coal-smuggling gangs of the titular region, ambitiously succeeds in world-building and offers some hilariously amusing characters.
Bajpayee’s antiheroic lead delivers some iconic dialogues that are now immortalised in retrospective viewings, memes, merchandise and more. Capturing the character’s unlikeable emotions like debauchery and bloodlust was a task that only the twisted dramatic prowess of Bajpayee could achieve.
