Bajpayee made his acting debut 30 years ago, with Govind Nihalani's Drohkaal
As Bhiku Mhatre in Ram Gopal Varma's Satya, Bajpayee became a household name in 1998
He worked with big-name directors like Shekhar Kapur, Mahesh Bhatt and Ram Gopal Varma through the mid- to late-1990s, making as little as Rs 10,000 for a film (Bandit Queen) at this time.
Indeed, Ram Gopal Varma and Manoj Bajpayee established a successful partnership in the 1990s, giving Hindi cinema films like Daud, Kaun, Road, Shool and, of course, Satya.
Bajpayee continued the streak in the 2000s and 2010s with Shyam Benegal's Zubeidaa...
...Anurag Kashyap's Gangs of Wasseypur...
...and Hansal Mehta's Aligarh
Bajpayee's 100th film, Bhaiyyaji, is set to release in theatres on May 24