After Vaastav hit the theatres in 1999, Mahesh Manjrekar tried his hands at other things as well. In 2000, he had four releases, all of different genres. While Nidaan and Astitva were hard-hitting and controversial, Jis Desh Mein Ganga Rehta Hain was comic and Kurukshetra a political satire. But it was only Astitva which made a mark due to splendid acting by its cast comprising Tabu, Sachin Khedekar, Mohnish Behl etc.

All other films that followed suit were dismal and scathed his directing finesse. Some of the films that he made during this time were, Tera Mera Saath Rahen, Ehsaas: The Feeling, Pitaah, Rakht, Struggler, It Was Raining That Night, Padmashree Laloo Prasad Yadav, Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi!, and others. He tried to salvage his career by making a sequel to his earlier hit Vaastav, Hathyar. This too beat the dust.

Perhaps gauging that its time for him to take a break, he tried his hands at acting and Voila! He not only gave superlative performances in all his movies but also became a very popular character actor in the industry. Though he did a few minuscule roles in his films like Praan Jaye Par Shaan Na Jaye, and Ehsaas, the path-breaking role of his acting career was that of Bali in Sanjay Gupta's Kaante. The white haired unruly guy won him much fanfare and was even nominated in the Best Actor in a Comic role category. And as they say, there was no looking back after this for him in the acting department. He did many films like Run, Musafir, Jawani Diwani, Zinda, Slumdog Millionaire, Meerabai Not Out, and others. He's presently working in many films in various roles like Pankh, Wanted Dead or Alive, Teen Patti, Fast Forward, Amavas, and many more. Pankh will also bring him back in the league of esteemed directors. The film stars Bipasha Basu in a prominent role.

In regional cinema too, he is busy collecting kudos for his brilliant performance and direction in the super hit Marathi movie, Me Shivajirao Bhosale Boltoy