Dinesh Kamath's column 'Movie World: Manoj Joshi had to struggle a lot before achieving success in Bollywood' that was published in Newsband

Movie World

Manoj Joshi had to struggle a lot before achieving success in Bollywood

By Dinesh Kamath

Manoj Joshi has enjoyed 20-year-long prolific acting career in theatre, television and films. He is a Padma Shri awardee. Some of the popular Bollywood films he has worked in include Sarfarosh, Devdas, Vivaah, Bhool Bhulaiyaa and Judwaa 2. His struggle in Bollywood started in the 1990s when he wanted to branch out to films from theatre. He was not a star kid and hence it was impossible for him to start as a hero. He had to begin as a character actor at a young age.

He began by visiting studios with his photoshoot. This did not help. One director, in fact, ook the pictures and put them in the dustbin in front of him. This shocked him to such an extent that he stopped going with photoshoot and so he began to attend audition tests directly and impress the directors with his acting prowess in front of their eyes.

This way, Manoj Joshi started getting roles after roles. Today he has reached the level where this 53-year-old actor was seen as BJP leader Amit Shah in Omung Kumar’s controversial biopic PM Narendra Modi.

Manoj Joshi shot to fame with Sarfarosh. He has played a cop, done comic roles, portrayed historical characters and experimented with grey shades, too. While playing whichever role, Manoj managed to impress the audiences with his acting prowess and create a lasting impression. After working for almost two decades, Manoj was also honoured with Padma Shri last year.

Actually, Manoj Joshi was spotted by Sarfarosh (1999) director John Matthew Matthan, who gave him a break in Bollywood. John had come to watch one of his plays where he was playing Mahatma Gandhi’s son Harilal Gandhi. After seeing his performance, he offered him a cop’s role in the film. Initially, Manoj Joshi was sceptical, but he was impressed and decided to give it a shot. After that there was no looking back for him.

Manoj Joshi today is known to his fans as an Indian film and television actor of Gujarati origin. After graduating from Sir J.J. School of Arts, he began his career in Marathi theatre, also putting up performances in Gujarati and Hindi theatre. He has also acted in over 60 films since 1998, many of his roles being comedy.

He acted in TV series including Chanakya, Ek Mahal Ho Sapno Ka, Rau (Marathi), Sangdil, Kabhi Souten Kabhi Saheli, Khichdi, Mura Raska Mai La (Marathi). He debuted in Sarfarosh (SI Bajju) alongside his brother who played Bala Thakur in the film. His other works include the film Hungama followed by Hulchul, Dhoom, Bhagam Bhag, Phir Hera Pheri, Chup Chup Ke, Bhool Bhulaiyaa, and Billo Barber. He has also portrayed Chanakya in Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat.

In 2018, Joshi was awarded with the Padma Shri.

His father is Navneet Joshi, and his younger brother Rajesh Joshi was an actor too. Rajesh died in 1998. Manoj Joshi's native place is Adpodara village near Himatnagar in north Gujarat, but he has spent most of his childhood in Goregaon, near Mahad Konkan in Maharashtra. His wife Charu Joshi, is also a producer, and they have two children named Rudra Joshi and Dharmaj Joshi, who are now working in the same industry.