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Actor PANKAJ TRIPATHI tells SAIMI SATTAR that his chequered career choices, before venturing into acting, are a major reason why his portrayals on screen are classified as natural

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Aconversation with Pankaj Tripathi, even over the phone, gradually makes you slip into a time and place where you can almost visualise yourself sitting on a charpoy under a tree with the mellow winter sun streaming through. The discussion, without a trace of self-consciousness, is unhurried and leisurely yet, at the same time, to the point. I could almost imagine him shrugging at the other end of the line while answering questions that were political and had just the slightest connect with his films and professional life. Or more likely shaking his neck which, as per a viral meme, deserved an award for best acting.

The actor has had a deluge of films and series, in the past 12 months, on the OTT platforms starting with Angrezi Medium going on to Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl, Mirzapur 2, Ludo, Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors, Shakeela and Kaagaz. Not surprisingly, he is considered the ‘man of 2020’ in entertainment. Tripathi himself concurs. “When I took a break

EARLYLIFE

o Born in Belsand, a village in Gopalganj district in Bihar. o Father Pandit Banaras Tripathi was a farmer and priest. His mother was Hemwanti Devi. o The youngest of the four children, he also worked as a farmer until he was in the 11th standard. o Played the role of a girl in his village’s natak which made him realise that he loved acting.

recently, I realised that I had worked a lot just before the lockdown. It was just too much. I should have done it itminaan se (taken it easy). I don’t know how I was managing it,” he says in chaste Hindi laced with the matter-of-fact tone that he is known for. He’s befuddled at the sheer volume as, he now points out that, a series is equivalent to three films so Mirzapur and Criminal Justice would add up to six and, then, there were three films too. “It means nine films. How I was doing it, I am unaware. But the good thing is that —despite so much —I would still say, I am not overexposed and neither have my shortcomings, as an actor, become common knowledge. My honour remained intact,” he says, a sense of satisfaction palpable in his voice.

We move on to his last release, Kaagaz, which talks about the need for papers to prove the existence of a person and the parallel it has with the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the agitation that followed its implementation. But Tripathi gets distracted by a persistent visitor and, when reminded of the topic, says, “Our film doesn’t talk of it as it is a period drama set between MILESTONES o He made his debut 1970- 93. The director, Satish Kaushik, in Run in 2004. had said that he was making an o He won critical and apolitical film. It’s a fight between the popular acclaim with system and a person. In the film the Gangs of Wasseypur character says, ‘Whenever the system’s in 2012. mouth opens, it demands the sacrifice of o In 2017 he had a phenomenal year with a common man’. As for the CAA-NRC Anaarkali of Aarah, agitation or even the government’s Newton, Gurgaon, policy, I don’t have a view on either.” Bareilly Ki Barfi and

In the media, it’s been touted as the Fukrey Returns film where he plays the lead for the first releasing one after time but there is an obvious oversight. If the other. you say Ludo or Mirzapur, the recall value that his name has is unparalleled by any other actor in the ensemble cast in both. Tripathi explains it in terms of his approach. “I also don’t get this discussion because I’ve considered characters that might have had a screen time of 10 minutes as leads. It’s like 10 minutes of the character’s life were seen in the film and not the remaining. In Kaagaz, it’s two hours of Lal Bihari’s life. Everything is a main role in real life and in cinema, everything is a role. Everyone is playing a lead

role in their life or want to play it and that’s why lists joining hotel management and, later, Geeta we create so many problems. A lead role means Press —both of which he didn’t enjoy —but these that the story should be mine or everyone should continue to add to the depth of the characters understand me,” he says sagely and goes on to add that he plays. “These help me 100 per cent. Jitne that, off late, he has started slipping into a ghaat ka paani piyenge, wo experience hoga… My spiritual mode and dispensing gyan often. life experiences are responsible for me being However, he says that, he puts in equal amount of natural in front of the camera. Everyone talks sincerity irrespective of the role’s screen time. about my natural acting or uses words like gifted,

Since the character in Kaagaz is based on a real flawless to describe it. But this is practiced natural person, who was declared dead, it naturally leads and the comfort in my acting comes from there,” to the question if Tripathi had says Tripathi. met him for inspiration. “I He zeroed in on acting as met and spoke to him for 10 a profession when, after minutes and looked at him working in plays in his for about half an hour. I village, he realised that, “I didn’t take any reference liked doing it and overtime points from his body didn’t feel like a burden. language, mannerisms or Sometimes I worked for behaviour because the 15 hours at a stretch but it audience doesn’t know Lal didn’t matter.” Bihari. I wanted to do justice So he made his way to the to his inner struggle, conflict National School of Drama and mental strength. That from where he graduated thought was already there in in 2004 and landed an the script, which I followed,” uncredited role in the film says the actor, whose Run. As an outsider, the going portrayal of the menacing was tough. “I did have and overpowering Kaleen problems initially in getting bhaiyya (Mirzapur Season 1 & 2) ‘EVERYTHING IS A MAIN work and wandered from one is far-removed from the ROLE IN REAL LIFE AND studio to the other one. But it everyday ordinariness and IN CINEMA, EVERYTHING was an organic process. Why struggle of Lal Bihari. IS A ROLE. EVERYONE IS should they give me work was As for the approach to any role, Tripathi says he relies on, “A combination PLAYING A LEAD ROLE IN THEIR LIFE OR WANT TO PLAY IT AND THAT’S WHY WE CREATE SO MANY always a question,” he says and takes a nuanced view about classifying it as of a method, a process, PROBLEMS’ nepotism. “The debate is life experiences and more to do with who will play imagination.” He does not interact with the the lead in a film. Nepotism is about who was director and hardly talks to him before the launched by whom. Our audience is aware that if shooting, “Because, of late, there’s hardly any someone doesn’t have the talent, irrespective of time,” he explains and adds, “I hear the director’s whose child it is, they reject him/her. Moreover, vision and after that I don’t venture around the there’s no debate about nepotism in the role of say, monitor. It is the director’s job to watch it. If s/he someone like, an inspector. And 80 per cent of the says, ‘retake’, I follow the instruction.” people come to Mumbai from different parts of the

While talking about drawing on experiences he country to be actors are not aiming to be the

romantic leads. They come here after honing their craft in theatre and if they’re talented, they get good roles. I find the film industry to be a very democratic and unique place.” And one can evaluate how far he has travelled by the fact that when a director wanted to cast him recently, Tripathi could accommodate him only after March 2022!

It was with Gangs of Wasseypur (2012), the cult film, where he played Sultan Qureshi, that he came into the limelight. That he landed the role after eight hours of audition is something which has now passed into film folklore. “Mukesh Chhabra (casting director) made me do every scene in a variety of ways. Whenever he goes for acting workshops, whether it is at Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) or at other places, where he interacts with aspiring actors, he shows this clip to demonstrate and analyse how an audition is done and what is the process,” he says without a trace of pride that would have been normal in any actor who is not as rooted as Tripathi is.

He became an integral part of slice-of-life films and series, especially during the lockdown last year, when OTT platforms made phenomenal inroads into our lives. Integral to this development was the the primacy of talent over star power. “This should have happened earlier. Cinema never paid attention to people like us. The OTT platform picked me and placed me on a poster,” he says and explains, “Talent is appreciated because there’s no pressure of a Friday opening. I am not an expert

DIDYOUKNOW

o His audition for Gangs of Wasseypur went on for eight hours. o He made his debut in Tamil cinema with Kaala, which was released in 2018. o O Betaji from the film Albela (1951) picturised on Bhagwan has become so popular after being featured in Ludo that youngsters have been sending him videos of themselves in a car with the song playing in the background.

but, as per my understand, if the performance is am simple, kind and a brilliant human being,” he good and the story is gripping, people get says and one can immediately think of Anup connected to it. If that’s not so, they stop watching Saxena who is the wind beneath Gunjan Saxena: after the first or second episode.” The Kargil Girl’s wingsand Bareilly ki Barfi’s

Another definite shift, which has been Narottam Mishra who does not mind sharing a witnessed, is the change in content. Tripathi feels cigarette with his daughter, Bitti. this is due to both the audience and the film Even when it comes to standing up for makers. “The exposure of both has increased. It’s women’s rights, Tripathi does not shy away. Post like the chicken and egg story. The audience Criminal Justice he starred in a video that spoke exposure has increased as, about the importance of with the advent of internet, consent. “I made it because people can see world cinema consent is very important and compare it. Earlier, we whether it is pre- or posthad been eating the same marriage. When I read the cuisine. When we script, it moved me,” he says experimented with food, we but doesn’t want to comment came to know that there are whether a law that doesn’t many kinds in the world. At make marital rape punishable the same time, amazing is archaic or not. “I don’t have storytellers like Imtiaz Ali, any understanding about the Himanshu Dhulia, Anurag law. When you’ve half-baked Basu, Anurag Kashyap, Neeraj knowledge and have read Ghaywan and more —who about it only on social media, were outsiders —burst upon you can’t form an opinion,” the scene. Sharan Sharma, he asserts. the director of Gunjan Saxena, Another thing that he is 25-26 years old. I was very refuses to be drawn into a impressed with the way he controversy about is student works,” he says. ‘FREEDOM ALSO MEANS politics despite being active

With directors who call THE FREEDOM NOT TO in it during his college days. places —like Ujjain, EXPRESS. IF A STUDENT “Freedom also means the Hazaribagh, Gorakhpur and IS INTERESTED THEN S/HE freedom not to express. If a more —home, the stories too talk about a world that they’ve SHOULD BE A PART OF POLITICS, OTHERWISE NOT. IT DEPENDS UPON student is interested then s/he should be a part, seen and have shifted from THE INDIVIDUAL’ otherwise not. It depends metros, says the actor. upon the individual,” says

While these changes are external, the choice of Tripathi, who prefers to read, cook or eat out one particular kind of role is something that rather than watching TV or operating the mobile. Tripathi himself determined —the type of father While he might not be keen on the visual that he plays to young women in films —given medium but, in the coming months, Tripathi that he has a young daughter. “The father I portray would be appearing in 83, where he plays in reel life, when it comes to daughters, is the kind PR Man Singh, the manager of the 1983 World I want to be in real life... But in the case of sons, I Cup-winning Indian cricket team. am an absolutely different father. The one in Undoubtedly, he is transferring the real to Mirzapur is cunning. When it comes to daughters, I reel effortlessly.

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