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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW! Pankaj Tripathi: 'What And How I Say' Becomes Very Important With Success
"I believe you don't need immeasurable amount of money to be content in life. I always try to stay happy with what I have," says actor Pankaj Tripathi, who is known for his remarkable performances and humility. He is coming to theatres on June 24 with his upcoming film Sherdil.
Excited about the film, the actor told Filmibeat, "Sherdil talks about the relationship between man, animal, forest, village and city in a very interesting way without getting too loud." Sayani Gupta and Neeraj Kabi will be seen in the lead roles along with Pankaj Tripathi in the film.
Talking about his popular characters, Pankaj Tripathi said, "We actors get a chance to understand the psychology of human beings through characters, which is very difficult. When I perform as Kaleen Bhaiya, I feel the power. And I felt powerless while playing the character of Gangaram in Sherdil. We actors have this opportunity that through our work, we get a chance to understand people of different class, colour, power and more. Our characters are always bigger than us. We as actors, as human beings are much smaller."
Pankaj Tripathi never fails to charm us with his humility and wit while interacting. Over the next half an hour, the Sherdil actor gets candid about his upcoming film, his process of selecting scripts, about his village, inspiration and much more. The actor says, "People's love means a lot to me and always inspires me to do better."
Excerpts from the interview.
Q. In the last few years, you have got immense success through films and OTT. How do you see this success?
A. This success and the unbound love of people makes me humble and a little responsible. I understand that, today if my voice is reaching more people then 'What and how I say' becomes very important. It is necessary that my conduct, my stories should be right, which leaves a good impression of me in the society. I have no interest in materialistic pleasures that come with success. My motto in life is, just do as much as is necessary to live.
Q. The trailer of Sherdil has received a lot of positive response. What special thing about the film would you like to share?
A. Sherdil shows the relationship between man, city, forest, animal and, a village in a very entertaining way. In the forest, a man has come to fall prey to a tiger and another man has come to make tiger his prey. Both are people from two universes, who meet in jungle. One is waiting to die and other is waiting to kill. Srijit Mukherji has moulded it in a very interesting way. The film conveys a message in a very unsaid and simple way. Let's see how the audience reacts.
Q. What are the things that you keep in mind while selecting the script?
A. The social concern of the story, the amount of entertainment in it and the larger aspect or thought behind telling the story - these are the main things. Then I see who the makers are. Sometimes you have to work in yaari dosti too. And to be honest, I was not too selective till now. Whatever I came across, I did it. But towards the end of this year, I will stop for a bit and do a little selective work.
Q. Is it difficult for you to say NO?
A. (Laughs) Very difficult. I even found it so difficult to leave a WhatsApp group or to block someone, that I stopped using WhatsApp. Now I am free from it.
Q. On one hand you do thriller like Mirzapur and on other hand, there are films like Mimi, 83, and Sherdil. What kind of character does the actor in you get satisfaction from while playing it?
A. All kinds of characters. Be it a powerless character like Gangaram (Sherdil), powerful as Kaleen Bhaiya (MIrzapur), clever as Madhav Mishra (Criminal Justice) or an innocent soul like Bhanu Pratap (Mimi); all these characters just run on emotions like greed, manipulation, innocence, honesty, jealousy. In real life too, we inherently have all these feelings. But we just try to show the positive emotions to others and want to keep the bad emotions to ourselves or try to suppress it. As actors, we even understand life more while playing the characters. My fight is to be a good person, more than to be a good actor. I want to be a better person tomorrow than I am today.
Q. You once said in an interview that you are an easy going person, who does not like cut-to-cut schedules. Has it changed with time now?
A. No, I get tired and bored. From the first week of July, I will take leave and switch off the phone. I will only sleep, eat, roam, go to the village. I am not such a hasty person who likes to work round the clock.
Q. Do people in your village have an idea that you have become such a popular actor?
A. Yes, yes they know. Now everyone in my village knows what I do. It feels so content when they have good things to say about you. People from other villages and surrounding districts come to see my village. They often even come to my house. Many YouTubers also come to make vlogs. So all this change has come. But my parents still don't have much idea. They do not see the phone, there is no internet, they are old, so they have no idea about all this. They only understand that people now know their son. But what I do, which films of mine come, they have no idea.
Q. Your journey inspires many people struggling out there. Do you ever think about this?
A. Yes, I do think about this and I agree too. When you walk on an unknown path, you leave a footprint and that footprint could be useful to someone else. Some kid might be inspired by me today, like I was with Manoj Bhaiya (Manoj Bajpayee). He is my inspiration. Watching him in films, gave me a hope that I can do it too.
Q. Do you enjoy being on social media?
A. Yes, I love social media. I want to be a part of constructive or an important conversation. However, I use it very selectively. To be honest, I don't have time either. I have to read scripts, memorise lines, prepare for the next day schedules, that's why I keep distance from the phone.
Q. You have been in the industry for so many years. Do you now think about financial aspects of the film? Do box office numbers matter to you?
A. To be honest, I don't think much about it. For me, my job is acting and I want to give my hundred per cent to it. I do it with full honesty. But, it is not my job to think where the film will reach in numbers. Earlier, sometimes I used to think that how many screens will release it, how much it will earn, etc. But then, I understood that this is not my job. This is the job of the producers and the studio, so why to worry about what is not your work.
Q. You have been getting immense love from the audience. Does this love act as a motivating force for you?
A. Yes, absolutely! The love from the audiences means a lot to me. We all want that with our hard work, our craft and our art, we reach people's hearts. The love and respect I saw at Abu Dhabi IIFA was unprecedented. I feel very humbled and grateful. What is an actor without audience's love? Whatever stories we do, good and bad, it should reach the people and touch their hearts.
Q. With which films and web series are you busy after Sherdil?
A. Right now Fukrey 3 is going on. I will complete it and then will start Mirzapur 3 from next week. After that, I will take a break in between. Shooting of Oh My God 2 and Criminal Justice 3 has already been completed.
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