When Manoj Bajpayee's Wife Shabana Raza Had to Change Her Name to Neha

Well, Manoj Bajpayee is married to actress Neha Bajpayee, whose original name is Shabana Raza. The couple is parents to a 10-year-old Ava. 

In an old interview, the actress Shabana confessed that she was 'forced' to change her name before stepping into Bollywood is going viral online. 

In her 2008 interview with Rediff, Shabana said, "I was never Neha. I was always Shabana. I was forced into changing my name too. I was not okay with it at all. My parents proudly named me Shabana. There was no need to change it, but nobody listened to me. I have matured a lot since I entered the industry. I was very apprehensive about everything before but I understand better now."

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It was only in 2008 when Shabana Raza managed to feature with her original name for Sanjay Gupta's Alibaug. 

Shabana added, "That is why working with Sanjay and the whole team of Alibaug has been the best experience of my life. I told Sanjay that I want to go with my real name, and he was okay with it. I had lost my identity and now, I got it back."

In 2008, Neha told IANS, "I've always been passionate about acting. But I couldn't go role hunting from door-to-door in producers' homes. Maybe that was a drawback for me. After a while, when the right roles stopped coming, I withdrew from acting and was just happy being Mrs. Manoj Bajpayee."

"But it didn't matter. Manoj and I have known each other for 10 years. I met him right after 'Kareeb' was released. And since then, we've been together. We're individuals and yet a compatible couple," she said.