‘It was the decision of..’

Actor Manoj Bajpayee kickstarted the New Year by sharing a very surprising picture of himself, posing shirtless on Instagram. The picture, which shows the actor flaunting his abs, left fans swooning and surprised while many were impressed. A section of users also claimed that the photo was AI-generated and that it wasn’t real.

Amid all the speculations, the Family Man actor has cleared all the air and revealed the photo was actually ‘morphed’. In an exclusive interaction with India Today, the actor further also revealed that the picture was shared as a part of promoting his recently-released comedy-thriller show ‘Killer Soup‘.

Manoj Bajpayee on his shirtless picture

In response to the reactions received to his shirtless picture that went viral, Manoj Bajpayee began by laughing over it, further adding that it was the streaming giant’s (Netflix) decision to initiate a campaign with the post.

The National Award-winning actor also joked that even if he wants, he cannot have a body like that.

“It was their decision, a marketing strategy, to start the campaign for Killer Soup. It was photoshopped and not real. That’s not my body. It’s impossible to do something like that,” Bajpayee said further adding that he won’t be able to have such a body with six-packs as it will not suit his characters.

In the meantime, as soon as the actor shared the picture on Instagram, many including celebrity photographer Dabboo Ratnani and filmmaker Anurag Kashyap showered praises on the post. Kashyap wrote, “Chuppe Rustom,” while actor-comedian Sunil Grover wrote, “Aag laga di aapne. internet pe!” Fans also congratulated Bajpayee for the impressive transformation.

“New Year New Me! Dekho d̶e̶l̶i̶c̶i̶o̶u̶s̶ soup ka meri body pe asar. Ekdum killer look hai na?” the actor wrote in his caption.

On the work front

Last seen in Netflix original ‘Killer Soup’ alongside actress Konkona Sen Sharma, Manoj Bajpayee will be next seen as a host on the Discovery+ show, ‘Secrets of The Buddha Relics‘. Also, he has Silence 2 in the pipeline alongside actors Prachi Desai, Sahil Vaid, and Vaquar Shaikh. Besides that, the actor also has Bhaiyaaji lined up.