Two days after receiving the National Award for Best Actor at New Delhi's Vigyan Bhawan, Manoj Bajpayee shared "some memories" with superstar Rajinikanth, who received his Dadasaheb Phalke Award at the same ceremony, and Dhanush on Instagram. Manoj Bajpayee and Dhanush won the Best Actor National Award for their respective performances in Bhonsle and Asuran. The Hindi film marks Manoj Bajpayee's third National Award win after best supporting actor prize for Satya (1998) and special jury National Award for Pinjar (2003). In his post, Manoj Bajpayee also shared a picture with Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, who handed out the awards on Monday morning.
Sharing the photos, the actor wrote: "Some moments with the greats during the National Film Awards ceremony!"
See Manoj Bajpayee's post here:
Bhonsle is directed by Devashish Makhija and it shows the story of a retired Mumbai Police constable (played by Manoj Bajpayee) who tries to help migrants fight against local politicians.
Recently, in an interview with Hindustan Times, Manoj Bajpayee spoke about meeting Rajinikanth at the National Awards. "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," he told the publication and added: "He treats everyone with a lot of humility. I spoke to him but it had nothing to do with cinema but spirituality."
When asked about what conversation he had with Dhanush at the ceremony, Manoj Bajpayee told Hindustan Times: "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."
On Monday, Dhanush and his wife, director-singer Aishwarya, shared pictures of the Asuran actor and Rajinikanth holding their prizes.
At the National Awards, Kangana Ranaut won her third Best Actress prize for her performances in Manikarnika (2019) and Panga (2020).