Manoj Bajpayee shares astrologer’s prediction of his Hollywood debut with Frank Langella that came true

Manoj Bajpayee has revealed that he was set to make his Hollywood debut in the early 2000s however, it didn’t work out. The actor said that he was signed to play the lead in an international film following the release of Pinjar and the project also starred acclaimed American stars Lynn Collins, Frank Langella and Justin Theroux, among many others.

The Family Man 2 star recalls travelling to Jaisalmer to film the project where he met with veteran actor Shrivallabh Vyas’ father, who was a renowned astrologer in the city and was informed that there’s no future in the project. Manoj Bajpayee shared the anecdote during a Clubhouse session with The Bollywood Film Club, moderated by Janice Sequeira and Aniruddha Guha.

“I was about to get my second National Award for Pinjar and after that, I was supposed to go to Jaisalmer. After my National Award function, the next day, I travelled to Jaisalmer. There I was going to do a proper Hollywood film which was being directed by an NRI. I was playing the lead, Lynn Collins was my female counterpart and Justin Theroux was playing one role, Frank Langella was playing a role in that film and there were (a few other) actors in that film. Everyone was thinking my life’s going to be so huge after that film because I was playing the lead with Justin Theroux, Lynn Collins, Frank Langella,” he said.

On one of his break days, Manoj ventured into the fort city to explore Jaiselmer when he decided to meet Shrivallabh Vyas’ parents. The actor had urged Manoj to have lunch with his parents and also suggested showing his birth chart to his father, who was a great astrologer.

“We were having lunch and then I came to know that his father is a great astrologer and he was a very old person. He could hardly manage to speak. Shrivallabh said ‘No, no, no, show your chart to my father. He’s a great astrologer in Rajasthan and he’s the astrologer to the King of Jaisalmer.’ Then I requested his father to please tell me what would happen to this film. He said, ‘Nothing would happen.’ So I said, ‘Uncle, please see again, there must be something.’ He repeated, ‘No, I can’t see anything.’ Then I came out, one part of your heart is saying it’s true and one part of your heart is saying it’s not true. We all wrapped up and came back and nothing happened,” Manoj added.

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It has been close to two decades since the incident took place, Manoj is yet to make his Hollywood debut. However, he did reaffirm that he has been getting offers from the west. The actor, in an interview with Hindustan Times in 2020, had confirmed that he was getting offers but wasn’t ‘dying to there and start from scratch.’

“It’s not in your hands. I keep getting offers, I won’t deny that. It has to be respectable. I am not dying to go there and start from the scratch just because it’s Hollywood,” he said before adding, “I have a whole lot of respect for Hollywood films. It has impacted generation after generation. But I am getting such great roles and respect here, if I get similar there, even a little bit less, that is okay. Starting from scratch is something which is not my scene at all.”

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Manoj was last seen in The Family Man 2 and Abhishek Chaubey’s short Hungama Hai Kyon Barpa in Netflix’s Ray. The actor will soon be seen in ZEE5’s Dial 100.