PANKAJ TRIPATHI - Bares His Soul

I had first met Pankaj Tripathi on a hot summer afternoon of 2018 at Mumbai's Prithvi Theatre.

- Ananya Ghosh

Mirzapur was still in talks. Stree had not yet released. But the actor, having already won his first National Award and riding high on the success of Gurgaon, Bareilly Ki Barfi, Newton and Anaarkali of Aarah, was already one of the busiest in Bollywood. He had hopped out of an auto wearing a pair of jeans and a checkered shirt for an interview and shoot, without any entourage.

We had a freewheeling conversation over cups of piping hot Sulemani Chai where he opened up about how the newfound fame was slowly changing things around him.

"Earlier the vegetable vendor in my locality would look down upon me, and now even he suggests that I should wear better clothes and comb my hair as I am a film star! So, yes, now he finally knows what I do," he had chuckled adding: "Paisa aur pyar humesha insaan jitna miley use zyada hi chahta hay. There is no limit to it. Uske chakkar mein parogey to pareshan ho jaoge." Cut to 2024. A lot has changed since that day.

Pankaj Tripathi is now a household name. He is the man behind some of the most interesting onscreen characters Bollywood has seen in recent times including Rudra (Stree), Anup Saxena (Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl), Sattu Bhaiya (Ludo), Bhanu (Mimi), Kanti Sharan Mudgal (OMG 2), ACP Bhavani Singh (Murder Mubarak), Guruji (Sacred Games), Madhav Mishra (Criminal Justice), and of course the iconic, Akhandanand Tripathi aka Kaleen Bhaiya (Mirzapur). Along the way, he has also picked up another National Award.

Today we are shooting at a Madh Island bungalow with an elaborate crew from both sides. It is pouring outside.