Pankaj Tripathi Keeping It Real

Our favourite on-screen girl dad talks about how being a father to a daughter in real life has helped him evolve as a man, and reveals why he is averse to propagating toxic masculinity on screen

- Ananya Ghosh

In ZEE5's Kadak Singh, Pankaj Tripathi is A K Shrivastava, an honest and tenacious officer with the Department of Financial Crimes investigating a high-stakes chit fund scam. We first meet him as he is regaining consciousness in a hospital after an alleged suicide attempt. He is unable to recall most incidents and people from the immediate past, and this includes his daughter. It seems he is suffering from retrograde amnesia.

The thriller is built on a Rashomonesque premise with multiple characters narrating their version of events mixing facts with fiction making the audience eventually question everything-even the accuracy of Kadak Singh's current medical diagnosis.

We talk to the ace actor about the Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury directorial and his take on Indian cinema today. Excerpts:

In the movie, Kadak Singh, the protagonist, is seen mostly confined to his bed; he is hardly the 'hero' we usually see on screen. What made you take up such an unconventional role? What was the most challenging bit? 

It was written very well. He is not a commercial movie hero. Real-life heroes don't break into dialoguebaazi; their actions make them heroes; they don't consider themselves as one or act like one. You will find such a man in every other government office. I had not done anything like this before. The character had to keep the audience oscillating between trust and mistrust you are never absolutely sure if he actually has amnesia or if he is weaving an intricate web of lies. The most difficult part was to find the right balance so that I didn't end up overplaying or underplaying the character.

You have essayed some rather progressive and supportive fathers in movies including Bareily Ki Barfi, Gunjan Saxena, and more recently OMG2.