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Manoj Bajpayee reveals how his family didn't openly express disagreement on inter-faith marriage with Shabana Raza
Manoj Bajpayee, in his biography has talked about how his family may have had problems with his inter-caste marriage with Shabana Raza but they didn't express it openly.
Manoj Bajpayee married his lady love and former actress Shabana Raza also known as Neha in 2006 and the couple will soon complete two decades of marriage. Manoj and Shabana had an inter-caste marriage back in the early 2000s and it wasn't easy for the couple. Now, in the recently released biography of Manoj, he has shared in detail, the challenges they faced to get married. Manoj has also opened up about how his parents might have been worried about their different religions but chose to not express any disagreement.
When Manoj Bajpayee's family chose to not show disagreement regarding his inter-caste marriage with Shabana Raza
An excerpt from Manoj Bajpayee: The Definitive Biography, written by Piyush Pandey in the Indian Express mentions how Manoj and Shabana Raza convinced their families regarding their marriage. According to the excerpt, the couple was committed to each other many years before their wedding. Shabana had introduced Manoj to her family and even he had started giving signals to his family about their relationship. 
Later, when Manoj's sister Poonam became a mother, Shabana visited his family with a gift on his behalf. She also became a part of Manoj's youngest sister Garima's wedding in Belwa village, making the relationship official. A quote by Manoj reads: "I took Shabana to my village. My youngest sister was getting married. I made her meet everyone. It was also the time when the shooting for Shool (1999) was underway."
Talking about how his parents might have had problems with their inter-caste marriage at that time, Manoj said, "My family might have been worried about Shabana’s religion, but nobody expressed it openly. They didn’t show any sadness either." But on the other hand, Shabana's parents accepted the marriage wholeheartedly. "Shabana’s family was open and progressive. They were not opposed to interfaith marriage and they had made that abundantly clear," said the Joram actor.
Manoj's late father Radhakant Bajpayee has also been quoted saying, "It wasn’t easy for a man from a traditional Brahmin family in Bihar to marry a Muslim girl, but everyone was aware of Manoj’s persistent nature. ‘We didn’t say anything regarding marriage because this is how it happens in the film world.’"
When Manoj Bajpayee married Shabana Raza without his parents' presence
Manoj's close friend and actor Harsh Chhaya has mentioned how the couple got married in haste and he was hurt because he came to know about it in the newspapers. Harsh also mentioned how Manoj's late mother told him that even they weren't aware of the couple's wedding plans. "His late mother told me, ‘We knew about Manoj and Shabana, but the wedding was planned suddenly. We had been to Mumbai a few days before his wedding to see his house. He didn’t talk about marriage even then. Then he suddenly said that he was getting married. We asked him to have the wedding in the village, but he didn’t agree to it.’"
Harsh also added that the couple was living together before marriage and decided to get married suddenly because of a home loan. "The need to legalize their relationship arose when they applied for a home loan."
Shabana herself in an interview with Ajay Brahmatmaj once said, "We had gone for a loan. The bank officer said we couldn’t get the joint loan because we were not married. Other issues were also there in which a marriage certificate was needed. We were anyway going to get married, but such things increased the necessity. We thought even people ask bizarre questions, so let’s shut them all up."
Manoj Bajpayee and Shabana Raza's work front
Manoj Bajpayee had a good 2023 as his last film Joram (2023) received a warm response from critics and the target audience. Earlier, in the same year, he also featured in highly acclaimed OTT films Gulmohar and Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai. Manoj started 2024 with the Netflix series Killer Soup and is gearing up for the release of 3rd season of his much-loved web series The Family Man.
Shabana Raza was last seen in the 2009 film Acid Factory. She hasn't done any film after that.
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