“I realised that I don’t want to do what they are expecting me to do. All the offers that were coming my way weren’t something that I could fit myself into. Yes, the money was good. I had no money, and no work, and the biggest producers were coming to me. They came with suitcases full of money, and to say no to it was the toughest task I have ever faced. That was the time when egos were very big. People used to get offended very easily. And with every no, I was making more enemies,” Manoj told Sucharita Tyagi during their conversation.
He also said that he felt exhausted and finished after working on Pinjar and 1971. He added that he was forced to do filthy films just to keep his home running. And by the time, he started getting work, he realised that actors like Irrfan Khan and Kay Kay Menon were coming up and they become the first choice of filmmakers. “And I was nowhere. I had no work, I was down and out,” he added.
However, Manoj credited RGV for his success. “I owe my career to him. We stay in touch. Sometimes, he calls me just to give me gaalis (abuse me). I did this music video Sapne Mein Milti Hai, I did it out of goodness. And he called me and said, ‘What have you done, the song’s remix is not good’. I told him, ‘Ramu, sometimes you do things for your friends’. He said ‘I know, I understand that; but why did you do it?’ If I get a call from him it is mostly because he is going to really blast me or criticise me. That is the kind of relationship I have with him.”
