Going by his filmography, Manoj Bajpayee might come across as a "serious" actor. But not many know that away from the world of showbiz, Manoj was a curious teen who fell in love when he was in class 12th. Notably, his crush wasn't a girl but her roll number. In fact, his friends used to tease him by calling the actor "Fortiforva".
Journalist Piyush Pandey, in his biography of Manoj Bajpayee titled ‘Kuch Paane Ki Zid’, has shared multiple anecdotes from the actor's life. Tracing his journey from his childhood, to school days to him joining the acting school, the book has many such interesting incidents from Manoj's life. In one of the many incidents mentioned in the book, one is a funny memory when the actor had his first crush in class 12th.
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While studying in class 12th, interestingly, Manoj did not fall in love with a girl but with her roll number. Whenever the teacher called roll number forty four (44) in the class and the girl said "present sir", Manoj blushed a little. Due to this, even his friends started calling him 'Fortiforva'. In the actor's class, among the boys, they used to choose a girl based on the roll number. There was nothing more than that.
Years later Bajpayee got to a girl from Delhi. But during his early days in the film industry, the two decided to part ways. Later, he met actress Shabana Raza after her debut film Kareeb (1998). Shabana went on to star in films like Ajay Devgn starrer Hogi Pyaar Ki Jeet and Hrithik Roshan's Fiza, whereas, Manoj went on to make a name for himself with titles like Satya, Shool, Kaun and Pinjar among others. The couple got married in 2006 and welcomed a beautiful daughter. They have named her Ava Nayla.