Mumbai, Sep 5 (IANS)| National Award-winning actor Pankaj Tripathi, speaking to IANS on the occasion of his birthday, talks about his journey so far and the top three films of his career so far which are very close to his heart. Born and brought up in Belsand village in Bihar’s Gopalganj district, Pankaj shares how no one in his family and neighborhood ever imagined that he would become famous as an actor and even reach an international destination beyond Nepal. will travel.
Pankaj told IANS, “I remember my sister had a wedding, and during the wedding all the family members had gathered, an astrologer told me in front of everyone, that I will travel the world and I will be in such a profession. Which will allow me to do that.” “They thought that maybe I will get a job and move to Nepal because it is an international destination and many people from our village have gone to Nepal as workers. They thought that if I became a chef, I would work in a hotel , the bigger hotel would pay me a decent amount and all that would serve, financial security as well as a stable, happy family life.”
Starting his career in 2004, Pankaj went through tough times and did several television shows before achieving his breakthrough in cinema. When we asked him to pick three of his favorite works of all time, Pankaj shared his best memories behind what made all these projects so special.
powder
It was a television series aired on Sony Entertainment Television in 2010. The series was a crime thriller and Pankaj played the character of Mumbai’s drug kingpin Naved Ansari. He said that in those days, a show which reveals the dark side of the world of business, drugs etc. was not made in our TV and cinema like it is today. My character Naved was really appreciated by critics and members. I was noticed by other actors and they came to know that I existed because I was struggling to get an acting job. However, when Pankaj looks back, he feels that he can do the role of Naved better now.
Gurgaon
Directed by Shankar Raman, the film revolves around the story of Kehri Singh, a business tycoon. Recalling that phase of his life, Pankaj said that at that time in 2017, I was going through a lot of uncertainty in my career. Interestingly, my character was meant to be a rich businessman in Kehri, who became abusive, drunk, etc. Our director Shankar sir was a wise man who told me that Pankaj script is your map, now you create the character.’ It inspired me to put my mind to the whole process of making it.
newton
The film, which released in 2017, was directed by Amit Masurkar – starring Rajkummar Rao, Anjali Patil and Raghubir Yadav. The film was the Indian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards.
Talking about the film, Pankaj said that when the offer of the film came to me, I was working for a TV series. It was quite a monotonous life where I would pack my lunch, go to the sets of TV shows, shoot the whole thing. I was feeling low emotionally. When ‘Newton’ came to me, I liked the character of Atman Singh, I was very excited, because the film was to be shot under the open sky, for 40 days.
Pankaj then, along with director Amit and screenwriter, changed the character of Atman Singh from a cynical government official to something a little more pleasant to watch and more human. The actor will be seen in upcoming films ’83’ and ‘Bachchan Pandey’.