Noted Bhojpuri actor-singer and BJP MP Manoj Tiwari today said, those in opposition who are planning to “uproot” Narendra Modi, will themselves be “uprooted” this time.
He was replying to questions from Rajat Sharma in the show ‘Aap Ki Adalat’, which telecasted on 8th July, 2023 on India TV. Tiwari was asked about RJD supremo Lalu Prasad asking people to “uproot” Modi. The BJP MP said, “Lalu Ji is not well, I want him to recover fully. But if somebody says we will uproot Modi, then I can only say, they themselves will be uprooted this time…If you want to uproot anything, uproot poverty, uproot corruption, uproot tterrorism, uproot drug mafia, why do you want to uproot Modi?”
Tiwari said, “a personality like the Prime Minister of Australia says, ‘Modi is the Boss’, and a prime minister of another country touches Modi ji’s feet. This is as good as the Australian PM praising every Indian, and some prime minister touching every Indian’s feet.” Tiwari said, he is preparing a song for 2024 elections, which says ‘Paanch Saal Aur Hamen Modi Ki Zaroorat Hai”.
When Rajat Sharma pointed out one of his Bhojpuri songs in which he had appealed to people in Bihar to support Modi and Nitish Kumar, Manoj Tiwari replied: “This question should be directed at Nitish Ji, because it was he who left us.”
Manoj Tiwari also spoke about his “professional rivalry” with another Bhojpuri star and BJP MP Ravi Kishan. He disclosed how on one movie, he was doing the role of an SP and Ravi Kishan was acting as a criminal. Tiwari said, “in the climax, the SP was supposed to beat the criminal, but Ravi Kishan insisted that he would also beat the SP. I told the director, how could an SP, armed with a gun and having policemen around him, get beaten by a criminal? Will it not amount insulting an SP, if he is beaten by a criminal? The problem is, top stars sign movies, but during shooting when they realize that they would face such a situation, they raise objections. He (Ravi Kishan) was probably thinking it was me, Manoj Tiwari, who was beating him, but actually we were acting our roles.”
Tiwari also narrated another incident about how Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan invited him to do a role in the movie ‘Ganga’ in which Ravi Kishan had done a major role.
Manoj Tiwari also disclosed, for the first time, his relationship with former India captain M. S. Dhoni and Amitabh Bachchan. He narrated an incident in Koregaon, Pune, when Big B and he were shooting at one film set, and on the same day, news came about Dhoni becoming World No. 1 in rankings. It so happened that Dhoni was also at another film set in Koregaon, and when he was told over phone that Big B was coming to meet him, Dhoni said, ‘please don’t come, I am coming to meet Big B’. “This is the large-heartedness of two great men, one in Bollywood and the other in cricket”, Tiwari said.