Manoj Bajpayee is a celebrated Indian film actor known for playing villainous roles, even winning several ‘Best Villain’ awards for Aks (2002), Shool (2002) and Road (2003). He received instant recognition as Bhiku Mhatre in Ram Gopal Varma’s Satya (1998), winning him several awards, including the 1999 Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor and the Silver Lotus Award for Best Supporting Actor. Bajpayee is a prolific and much-sought after actor with high-profile roles including the critically-acclaimed crime thriller Special 26 (2013) and the 2012 APSA Jury Grand Prize winner by Anurag Kashyap, Gangs of Wasseypur, for which Bajpayee was also nominated for an APSA for Best Performance by an Actor. In 2016, Bajpayee won his first APSA for portraying a gay professor in Aligarh and in 2019 was nominated once more as a conflicted retired policeman who forms an unlikely friendship with two migrants in Bhonsle.
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy expresses its respect for and acknowledgement of the South East Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of country, including the custodial communities on whose land works are created and celebrated by the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. We acknowledge the continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We also pay our respects to Elders, past and present. We recognise the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and First Nations peoples continue to play in storytelling and celebration spaces.
