Manoj Roy essayed the role of a blind beggar in Aamir Khan’s PK.
Manoj Roy left for Delhi and chose Jantar Mantar as his spot to beg, where he pretended to be blind.
It is often said that five-second fame does not last long. But for Manoj Roy, it surely turned his life around. If you have seen Rajkumar Hirani’s PK, headlined by Aamir Khan, then you might remember PK coming across a blind beggar with a bowl and he helps himself to some pennies and gets going. As per reports, Manoj Roy was chosen from among eight beggars for a scene in the movie. While his scene lasted just five seconds, it was enough to catapult him to overnight fame. Manoj Roy hails from North Assam’s Sonitpur and is the son of a daily wage earner. His mother died four days after giving birth to him. Manoj Roy is a school dropout who chose to beg to earn his livelihood.
Manoj Roy left for Delhi and chose Jantar Mantar as his spot to beg, where he pretended to be blind. But, one day, his luck turned around and two gentlemen approached him to ask if he knew how to act. Manoj Roy replied that it was his acting that got him meals twice a day. The gentlemen reportedly paid him Rs 20 and left him a phone number. When he called the number, he was asked to reach the Nehru Stadium. The next day, he had to audition with seven other beggars, all blind and he had no idea about the movie.
He was in for a surprise when he was made to stay in a five-star hotel in Delhi, where he could swim in the hotel’s pools. After he secured the role, when he went back to his village, he got a hero’s welcome. The five-second screen time won the hearts of his community. He now has a Facebook account and a job in a village shop. He also claims to have a girlfriend. He also is employed in a shop in Assam.
The scene in question here is when Aamir Khan’s character PK walks across the bridge, he sees the beggar with a bowl of money in his hand and takes some notes out of it. Meanwhile, Anushka Sharma’s narration describes that PK assumes the beggars to be ATMS who are on every bridge and he can take out as much money as he wants.