From the outset of his career, Hindi-language actor Manoj Bajpai developed and sustained a reputation for welcoming risky, edgy, and emotionally demanding roles. A native of Bilwa, India, Bajpai fell in love with acting from an early age, but reportedly received three separate rejections from the National School of Drama in New Delhi. Nevertheless, Bajpai persisted, and his efforts paid off with one of the lead roles in Shekhar Kapur's well-received but grueling, feminist-charged political drama Bandit Queen (1994) (officially an Indian-British co-production), and equally prominent billing in the projects Shool (1999), Pinjar (2003), and Bewafaa (2004). In 2008, Bajpai starred as Lalabhai in the madcap Bollywood ensemble comedy Money Hai Toh Honey Hai.