"Manoj had an entirely different background from Shah Rukh. SRK did not have to struggle that much; he was more fortunate. Manoj went through a more severe struggling stage. When I met him, he did not even know English. He had to work harder because there was not much money to be made in theatre," Barry says.

The theatre guru goes on to talk about the Hindi adaptation of a play called The Servant Of 2 Masters -- called Baghdad Ka Ghulam -- where Raghuvir was in charge of rounding up Hindi-speaking actors for auditioning.

"I always start a production with a workshop," Barry says. "I like to see the cast at work first. Manoj had a tiny role in that play but one saw the commitment in him."

TAG did another Hindi adaptation of a musical called Blood Brothers, which had a Bollywood-ish story of two brothers who get separated at birth. Rituraj played one brother while Manoj played his poor sibling.

"Manoj was in his elements when he played that poor character -- a violent man who's bubbling just beneath the surface," says Barry.

Manoj Bajpai worked in theatre for 11 years. It was much after his 30th birthday that he came to Mumbai to become a movie actor.

Also read: Jodhaa Akbar, a preview

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