Manoj Joshi

Some Lesser Known Facts About Manoj Joshi

• Manoj Joshi is an Indian theatre artist, actor, and film & theatre director. He was honoured with the Padma Shri award in 2018 for his work in the field of art-acting.

• His family hails from Adpodara Village, near Himatnagar in North Gujarat.

• In an interview, while talking about his childhood, he shared that he wanted to become a painter and was inclined towards art. While he was in class 4, for the first time, he performed in a school play. After passing class 7, he moved to Mumbai and enrolled in a school there. However, he could not cope with his studies there and failed in class 8 and class 9.

• During his college days, he attended painting and theatre classes. He also wrote a Marathi play titled ‘Karma’ while he was in college.

• After graduating, he started working as a cashier at Sidhharth Hotel in Mumbai. After a few months, he left the job as he failed to handle the finances properly. Later, he worked for magazines like ‘Janmabhoomi,’ ‘Gentleman,’ and ‘Economic and Political Weekly.’ For painting caricatures for a magazine cover, he earned Rs 50 to Rs 100.

• He then started working at a firm named EPW Communist Trust for a salary of Rs 35000-Rs 40000. ^[8]YouTube – The Bollywood Dynasty

• A few years later, he started performing in theatre plays with various renowned artists such as Satyadeb Dubey, Vijay Mehta, and Shafi Inamdar. He has worked with various theatre groups like the Indian Peoples’ Theatre Association, Indian National Theatre, and Unmesh One Act Play.

• He has performed in various Gujarati theatre plays like Tak Dhina Dhin, Ghashiram, Kotwal Doctor Tame Pan, Man Male Tya Melo, and Gandhi Virudh Gandhi.

• He has also performed in the 1995 theatre play ‘Sarvasvi Tuzich.’

• In 1996, he directed and performed in the Hindi theatre play ‘Chanakya.’ At that time, he did not have enough money to direct the theatre play. So, he took a loan for his marriage from the firm he used to work for and used that money for the play. Gradually, the theatre play became one of the most popular theatre plays in India.

  

• He has appeared in various Hindi TV serials such as ‘Ek Mahal Ho Sapno Ka’ (1999; Sony), ‘Kehta Hai Dil’ (2002; Star Plus), ‘Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat’ (2015; Colors), ‘Mangalam Dangalam’ (2018; SAB TV), and ‘Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai’ (2020; Star Plus).

  

• Some of his Marathi TV serials are ‘Abhalmaya’ (1999; Alpa TV) and ‘Honar Sun Me Hya Gharchi’ (2015; Zee Marathi).

  

• He has performed in various Hindi theatre plays like ‘Goal Maal Pyar Ka,’ ‘Rangila Re,’ and ‘Alibaba Aur Chalis Ke Chor.’

• Manoj has played supporting roles in many Hindi films such as ‘Chandni Bar’ (2001), ‘Satta’ (2003), ‘Dhoom’ (2004), ‘Vivah’ (2006), ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’ (2007), ‘Hasee Toh Phasee’ (2014), and ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’ (2015).

  

• He acted in the English-Hindi film ‘Jogger’s Park’ in 2003 in which he played the role of Tariq Ahmed.

• He is known for laying comic roles in various Hindi films like ‘Sub-Inspector Anand Waghmare’ from ‘Hungama’ (2003), ‘Advocate Namdev Mishra’ from ‘Hulchul’ (2004), ‘Nageshwar’ from ‘Garam Masala’ (2005), ‘Kachra Seth’ from ‘Phir Hera Pheri’ (2006), and ‘Harichandra Ramchandra Mirchindani aka Harami’ from ‘Golmaal: Fun Unlimited’ (2006).

• Manoj has also acted in a few Marathi films such as ‘Bharatiya’ (2012), ‘Narbachi Wadi’ (2013), and ‘Dashakriya’ (2017).

  

• He has acted in many Hindi short films like ‘The Mumbai Trilogy’ (2012), ‘After He Left: Chronicle of Shankar Pratap Singh’ (2018), and ‘Gunchakkar’ (2023).

• He has appeared in various Gujarati films like ‘Bey Yaar’ (2014), ‘Thai Jashe!’ (2016), ‘I.M.A. Gujju’ (2018), ‘Nayika Devi: The Warrior Queen’ (2022), and ‘Nava Pappa’ (2023).

  

• He was appointed as a member of an assembly member of ICCR (Indian Council for Cultural Relationships) in April 2016.

• In 2017, he acted in the Malayalam film ‘Odiyan’ as Mootha Manickan (Muthappan).

• In 2019, he appeared in the Hindi film ‘PM Narendra Modi’ in which he portrayed the BJP politician Amit Shah.

  

• He has translated the theatre play ‘Ghashiram Kotwal’ from Marathi to Gujarati. The play was originally directed by Vijay Tendulkar.

  

• He was appointed as the Vice President of the Cine And TV Artistes’ Association (CINTAA) in 2021. Later, he became the vice president of the Bombay Art Society.

• Whenever he gets time from his busy schedule, he loves listening to music and watching television.

• For a few years, he has supported the NGO Divya Prem Seva Mission, Haridwar, which is working for the welfare of people suffering from leprosy. He has been supporting an NGO named The Friends of Tribals Society (FTS) which is working for the welfare of tribal students.

• In 2021, one of his tweets hurt the sentiments of the Muslim community.

  

• In 2022, he tweeted about the poor services of Air India.

  

• In the same year, he attended various political campaigns of the BJP. He has also appeared in a promotional video for BJP Gujarat.

  

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