Interview: Pankaj Tripathi on why 8 hours of sleep is more important to him than attaining stardom

It’s been a great year for Pankaj Tripathi. From playing small roles in serials and movies to winning critical acclaim and applause from the audience for four films, he sure has come a long way. His brilliance as an actor can be seen in the varied characters he has played in Anaarkali of Aarah, Gurgaon, Bareilly Ki Barfi, and Newton, all of which hit the screens within a short span. He is very much in demand for strong character roles, but he is in no hurry to sign on anything that comes his way. He has a great backstory. Read on for excerpts in which he talks about his humble beginnings, to working as a cook and then finally his journey into the world of acting (and everything in between).

Do you remember the day you came to Mumbai to pursue acting?

Yes, it was on October 16, 2004, at 7.30 am by the Paschim Express.

You did a few TV shows...

Yes, I used to do TV shows. I have played an inspector in one, a lawyer in another for seven episodes. It was enough for survival. My wife was a teacher. Ghar chal jaata tha, par dukan nahi chal paati thi. But, I hadn’t come here to become a hero. In fact, if someone would have offered to put their money on a film with me, I would have told them to forget it and instead get some relative of theirs to act in it. A lot of independent people come, too. The producer is new and so is the nephew. The thing is, in India, once a man has everything, all the basic infrastructure, then he wants to make a film because every man has a story that he wants to make into a film.

With all the struggle, did you ever think about giving up?

I didn’t think of doing anything else. I am also a cook. Just the other day, I got a call when I was cooking for my daughter. A journalist from Karnataka called to talk to me about Newton getting selected for Oscar, I couldn’t even have a conversation because I was so emotional.

Your marriage has an interesting back story...

I was in 10th standard when I had decided that I will have a love marriage. Nobody in my village had done it. I had my heart set on it. I didn’t know what I was going to do in my life, but this was the one thing I was certain about.

You had girls in your school?

That was a big tragedy. I come from a village. In eighth, ninth and 10th standard, there were about six girls, who would come in after the teacher walked in and were asked to leave before the teacher exited. They even sat separately. In four years, we didn’t even ask them their names. That led to different kinds of complexities. When I went to drama school in Delhi, I often found myself unable to talk to girls. I was shocked when I came to Delhi. Bahut hichkichahat hoti thi. I would hide at times to avoid talking with women. A bit of that hesitation is still there.

So how did you meet your wife?

My sister was getting married, but the in-laws wanted to make a toilet before she started living there. This was much before Toilet: Ek Prem Katha. My friend had gone to their village to oversee the construction. He saw a girl there, came back and told me about her. He said she is beautiful, she walks like a doe. I heard all that praise and was lost.    Around 11 years later we got married. We were seeing each other from 1993 to 2004. During that time, I went to the drama school. It was a different kind of time because there were no cell phones and we couldn’t write letters in case anyone in the house opened them. When I went to NSD, there was a phone there and she had a landline in her house. We decided that every day at 7.30 am and 8 pm, we’ll talk to each other. That went on for some time.

How did you think of getting into acting?

I am from Gopalganj, Bihar. We have a river near our village on the other side of which is Manoj Bajpayee’s village, Champaran. Somewhere, he had a hand to play in my becoming an actor. When Satya released, people were talking a lot about him. I was preparing for medical then. Then Shool came. By then I was acting in plays. I felt that if someone from neighbouring village can go, become an actor, probably I can, too. Later, I started working in a hotel in Patna where he was staying during a shoot. I met him there. The next day, while leaving, he forgot his slippers. I asked the hotel people to give it to me. I told them, ‘Woh guru hain, kam se kam unke charan paduka mein toh paer dalunga’. I wore out those slippers. I told him all this when we were shooting for Gangs of Wasseypur (smiles).

Please continue...

I have a friend, Bhanu Uday, who would call me every day and ask me to come to Mumbai. He told me to come to Mumbai and not get into theatre. Theatre is difficult to survive on, there’s absolutely no money. My coming to Mumbai was about survival. I knew I liked acting, so my only dream was to survive. I was happy as long as there was enough. My only dream was to earn enough to take care of my family and maybe have a small car. For me, it’s important to sleep for eight hours than be a star. I get satisfied very easily. If someone offered me stardom and gave me four hours of sleep instead of eight, I would tell them that it’s a great offer, but I would prefer to be ranked at number four with enough sleep, instead.

Your family didn’t object to your decision of becoming an actor?

No, there was no objection from my family. You know what happens, middle-class people have a lot of dreams that don’t get fulfilled. Like someone wants to be a doctor, but could only be a clerk, someone wanted to be a pilot, but became a courier boy.  Then they want their kids to fulfill those dreams. But as a farmer, my father didn’t want me to be anything else. He was a pandit, and he thought that if I become a doctor that’s good, if not, then there was farming or being a pandit. He didn’t have any balance dreams. He only asked if I would be able to run a house. I told him that I will become a professor and teach acting. So, he was happy. It was just an excuse, but it worked. I do know that I am a good teacher. I may do that in the future.

And is direction on your list?

It is, par abhi acting ki dukan chal rahi toh abhi nahi karoonga.

Which recent films have you liked?

I loved Tithi, Court and Tanu Weds Manu Part I. To tell you the truth, I don’t watch any films. I have seen 50 movies so far in my life, and I haven’t seen any English films.

Why?

I just can’t sit in a place for two hours. I haven’t even seem Sholay completely. I don’t watch all my films. I am not attracted to the glamour of films. The other thing is agar kissi abhineta ki performance bahut acchi dikh jaaye toh mein pareshaan ho jaata hoon, ki aisa kaise kar liya? I do try to explain it to myself that it’s my work and so I should watch more films but....

Do you keep in touch with theatre?

Yes, I do watch plays, I know Kumud bhai (Kumud Mishra) Gopal Tiwari, and Manav Kaul. They let me know when they have something coming up. But I haven’t seen a play for the last two-three years because of my schedule.

Do you think actors like you and Seema Pahwa have brought the other supporting actors into focus, too?

It’s not because of us, it’s because of the audience. Also, it’s about the story. Like, in Bareilly Ki Barfi, the parents are not fillers, who drop in only to create trouble. Nitesh Tiwari ne likha hi aise tha ki the story won’t be complete without them. People are also demanding it because platforms like Netflix and Amazon have come into people’s homes, especially in the urban zones. Newton and Nil Battey Sannata wouldn’t have gotten any theatres 10 years ago. The audience is growing. Even then everything is not perfect. A movie like Gurgaon got just about 80 theatres. So even now, a good film can slip away without getting noticed. But the director of that film was brilliant! I would love to work with him again. It was an enriching experience. He is a very sorted guy. Though the movie was a bit dark and brooding, he’s not anything like that. In fact, Gurgaon was technically, even more, sound than Newton.

Which directors do you want to work with?

Dibaker Banerjee. I don’t watch too many films, but I loved the short tale he directed in Bombay Talkies.

Among actors, there are two schools of thought, one which believes in eating, breathing and living the character like Nawazuddin Siddiqui is doing with Manto, while others like Naseeruddin Shah and Irrfan Khan believe in bringing the character out of oneself. Which of the two do you believe in?

I agree with Naseeruddin Shah. I can’t close a room and stay in it for five days. We have all learnt from various masters, but every actor, eventually, forms his own method of acting. No two actors can use the same method. Even if I don’t become a character, I am thinking about it, and that’s also working on building it.

Go on...

Your craft should be such that it is not visible to the viewers. There’s a difference between being effortless and bloodless. Sometimes, while chasing realism, you don’t even realise that you have become boring. I have been a cook, I know how much spice is needed. I make sure that I don’t become boring. At the same time, one has to experiment. In Gurgaon, I had decided to create maximum through minimum. Like, if you are angry, you do certain things like make your eyes big, stare for a long time, or flex your jawline. I decided to not do that and see if I can communicate. And I was successful. So, there is a craft, but I don’t ever give up on being impulsive or spontaneous. I don’t need pin drop silence on the sets or I don’t need my eye line clear. Rajkummar can’t have anyone in his eye line. I don’t need anyone to give the cue. It does make it better if you have someone doing that, but it’s not absolutely important. I don’t lose my concentration.

Do you ever get affected by a character on a psychological level?

That can happen sometimes, if I have adopted a particular physicality. In Mani Ratnam’s Ravan, a role that probably nobody other than me noticed or cared for — I had adopted a body language for a long time. That became a habit. Then you have to work on breaking that habit

Do you ever feel the need to recharge your batteries as an actor? What do you do for it?

I go back to my village. I went there recently and stayed with my parents. I am very connected to my village. I don’t do farming or any work as such, but I meet the people there. My senses are very good because of that, they get affected in mahanagars. You don’t realise what you are watching. You can’t make out the difference between music and noise. I read a lot of Hindi sahitya.

Do you think our actors focus too much on physicality?

Biceps, triceps are necessary. We want our heroes to be like superheroes. Till date, I haven’t seen any of our heroes get acidity in the films. They are perfect.

Which actors do you admire?

Om Puri. I used to like him a lot. Naseer saab’s craft you can make out. Irrfan, ab mujhe lagta hai ki unhone apna comfort zone bana liya hai. But he is a great actor. India, an actor needs to do a lot to not get repetitive. At the end of the day, you want to become an actor and sell products. I want to save myself. I have earned people’s trust, so I can’t afford to lose it. Though you will see me in a mediocre film soon.

Why is that?

I did it for a friend.

You had said that it is difficult for you to say no to work....

It’s a small industry. Logon ko lag sakta hai ki ego mein aa gaya hai. It’s difficult to say no because people may feel he has become too big for his boots. I have just refused two-three big makers, they might feel that I struggled to meet them and now that they are offering me a film I am refusing it. They might think it’s because of ego. But when I want to refuse a film I meet the filmmaker, even the new ones, I tell them honestly that it is not about money or dates, it’s because of certain other reasons.

Please continue

Before this, I used to feel guilty about turning down films because it meant turning down a few lakhs when my father, a pandit used to stay awake all night and earn Rs 2,000. I have seen hard times. There was a time when I didn’t have more than Rs 200 to buy milk for my daughter. I remember, suddenly I got a call from a person who introduced himself as Raghav Pandey. He was related to a lady in my village. He said he was posted at INS Hamla, at Madh, he said you can come and buy things from the army canteen if you need anything. I jumped at the offer. For the next six months, the grocery would come from there because it was half the price. That was the time I was doing theatre. I am not telling you this to gain sympathy, because there has never been a day when we didn’t have dinner. My wife used to earn well.

She doesn’t work now?

Woh ladh leti hai sab se. Just today, she was saying I am going to let go of this driver because he is not good. A few days ago, she was saying that she likes me better when I play roles that have me as a slightly arrogant guy like the one in Newton. A friend of mine told her that’s because I am not like that in real life.

Have you become choosy now?

Yes, I have. I wasn’t till now. I have been refusing people for almost two-three months now. After Gurgaon, BKB, and Newton, I said to myself, ‘Dost, ab ruk jaa’. There have been times when I have done work for friends without thinking whether it was of good quality or not. But now, I have realised that the two are separate and should not be mixed. A friend of mine had come down and he was shooting a music video, he asked me to come on the day of the shoot. I went. Then he told me to get in the frame of a shot. So now there’s a shot of me in some video somewhere (laughs).