Manoj Bajpayee opens up on his inter-faith marriage with Shabana, says there were more Muslim people at his father’s funeral than Hindus | Hindi Movie News

Manoj Bajpayee has been married to Shabana Raza tied the knot in 2006 and they have a daughter Ava Nayla Bajpayee. Manoj and Shabana’s interfaith marriage have never come in the way of their relationship and in a recent interview, he’s opened up on how people are now talking about the religion which his daughter follows. However, for Manoj, their different faiths was never a big deal because him and his wife continue to follow their respective religion.
The actor opened up during a chat with Barkha Dutt on Mojo story. “It’s been easy. I’m always very surprised… It’s the people who matter the most; it’s people who refuse to be impacted and affected by this.” Further reflecting on it, he said that it wasn’t a big deal for him, also because of the kind of environment he grew up in. “My father was very, very inclusive. Very gentle, very polite. He had many Muslim friends. He was a huge supporter of the party which is in government today. But you’ll be surprised, the number of Muslim people who attended his funeral were far, far more than the people who belonged to his religion. That was what my upbringing was like,” said Bajpayee.

Thus, the actor opined that he doesn’t even need to handle it. Manoj said, “We don’t need to handle it. There is no fight, there is no struggle. All of us have our own space to practice our faith. Now, even the little one is made to realise it by her peers. The peers are getting this idea from their parents. Ava’s religion is the conversation in their household, and that conversation reaches us, and Ava asks her mother, ‘What is my religion?’ And she’s told, ‘You choose yours’.”
He further appeared irritated by these questions and said he does pooja everyday while his wife practices her own religion. “Ava, sometimes she does pranam, sometimes she doesn’t. We don’t even question these things,” said the actor.
Manoj’s latest project is ‘Despatch’ which has now released.