From roaming streets of Andheri saying “Koi Acting Karwa Lo”, to now becoming netizens’ favourite actor, Pankaj Tripathi recently opened up about his struggles and success in the industry. The actor popular for his roles in Amazon Prime Video’s Mirzapur, and a slew of contemporary independent films such as Nil Battey Sannata, Stree, and Newton, is again lauded by film enthusiasts for his role in Mimi.
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When one takes the name of Pankaj Tripathi – their mind would conjure up his face as a background to a slew of memes, they would think of an actor who speaks more from his expressions than through his dialogues, they would imagine an actor who started off with a small role, and is now arguably the most well-known faces to have been discovered thanks to independent cinema.
Playing the Complex Character of Bhanu in Mimi
Pankaj Tripathi recently gave an interview to a Hindi daily for the promotion of his new film Mimi. In the film, he plays complicated character of Bhanu who in the pursuit of money, introduces a couple from US to an Indian girl who need the latter for surrogacy. While the film received average reviews, Tripathi again shone the brightest in the film.
“From 2004-2010, didn’t earn much”
In his interview, Tripathi went into some details about his days (years) worth of struggle in the industry and how he has turned it around for himself. In his interview he shared that from 2004 to 2010, he didn’t earn much. It was his wife who was taking care of him and their home.
“I used to roam around in Andheri, urging directors “Koi acting karwa lo, koi acting karwa lo (someone, get me an acting job!).”
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“Directors Wait for Me in Parking Lots for Narration”
While not many listened to him, he said now when he goes to his home, he is awaited by directors at the parking spot with scripts in their hands.
“In the parking lot, directors come out and tell me, ‘Want to do a film with you, please listen to a narration’. Earlier, I couldn’t find projects in Andheri and after struggling for years, now there are lines of people for projects in the parking lot.”
“Wife ran the house, rent and everything during days of struggle”
He further shared how big of a role his wife played in his life and said-
“During those days of struggle, it was Mridula (his wife), who was running the house. From rent, to the essential needs, it was her who used to take care of everything.”
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Pankaj Tripathi on Which Character Impacted Him Most
From starting his career with a small role of Kichu in Vishal Bharadwaj’s Omkara to playing the meditative rural-in-charge in Newton, to playing Kaleen Bhaiyya in Mirzapur, to say Pankaj Tripathi has come a long way, would be an understatement. However, when he was asked which character of his impressed him the most, he had an interesting answer.
In his interview, Tripathi said how the character of KB Singh in Gurgaon and Atma Singh in Newton influenced him the most. Further, he also said how the small role of Sadhya Ji in Masaan left a deep impact on me.
“What happens is that character’s attitude becomes the actors for a while, and the artist stays with the character for many days. This becomes a problem too, as sometimes the character is so complex that actor faces conflicts in his real world.”
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Pankaj Tripathi May Play Romantic Hero
While Tripathi didn’t share much about his future projects in the interview, he was asked that he hasn’t played a romantic hero in his films and shows so far. To this, he said-
“You will see me as a romantic hero very soon. As the search of the heroine is still on, I’ve been told by the producers to not reveal much. As soon as everything is locked, you will be the first to know.”
