A man of few words but many expressions, that's Pankaj Tripathi for you.
One of the finest actors that the Hindi film industry has seen in recent times, Pankaj Tripathi has managed to impress audiences with the many characters that he has played in a career spanning almost two decades.
From the liberal father in 'Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl' to playing a godman in Netflix's 'Sacred Games', Pankaj has shone brightly as an actor irrespective of the length of the role he has in the film/series and whether or not he has the titular role.
One of the many characters that the viewers are in awe of, is that of Akhandanand Tripathi aka Kaleen Bhaiya from Amazon Prime's hit series 'Mirzapur', whose highly-anticipated sequel 'Mirzapur 2' was recently released.
After the recent success of the sequel of the highly-acclaimed series, in an exclusive tête-à-tête with Pankaj Tripathi, we at DNA spoke with the talented actor about 'Mirzapur 2', his character in the series and much more.
"We always knew we were working on a good script with a great storyline but didn't know that Mirzapur will become so popular among the masses and will be liked by so many that it will become a 'cult'," said Pankaj Tripathi in an exclusive interview with DNA on being asked about 'Mirzapur' being one of the biggest series on OTT right now.
Opening about Akhandanad Tripathi aka Kaleen Bhaiya and revealing that he never took inspiration from any real-life character to play the particular role, adding he solely relied on the writer's vision, Pankaj said, "I essayed the role completely on the basis on the script that was given to me. Never took any inspiration from anyone in real-life." He, however, added that like Kaleen Bhaiya, in real-life, he himself is a very soft-spoken person.
When asked about his reaction to Kaleen Bhaiya becoming one of the greatest villains of all time and being compared to the likes of iconic characters such as Mogambo (Amrish Puri) and Shakaal (Kulbhushan Kharbanda), Pankaj said, "I feel humbled. It is an achievement for me that the audiences liked Kaleen Bhaiya and are comparing him to legendary, iconic characters. It's an honour and I will make an effort to do even better every time I come on-screen or play a character."
During the interaction, when asked what 'ingredients' he puts in his roles citing that audiences mostly like all his characters, Pankaj said, "I put in honesty, entertainment, sincerity and a little bit of the craft of acting."
Speaking about the women of 'Mirzapur 2' and how meatier roles are being written for females as far as digital scripts are concerned, Pankaj told DNA in an exclusive chat, "In today's time, modern writers are writing very good scripts and there is consciousness among them to write good roles for women."
He added, "The women of Mirzapur are very strong and live life by their own rules. Yes, the world of Mirzapur is dark, therefore, they live accordingly and may come across as dark as well, but otherwise, all the female characters are very strong and opinionated."
Reacting to Mirzapur MP Anupriya Patel's demand for action against the web series for portraying the city in a bad light, Pankaj told DNA, "There is a disclaimer that comes before every episode which reads that Mirzapur is a fictional story and does not have any relation to an individual and/or place. I am an actor and I wouldn't have much to say on this beyond what I have stated."
"Having said that, I would like to add that in 'Mirzapur' series, if there are criminals, there's also a hero by the name Ramakanth Pandit (Rajesh Tailang), who wants to do good for the city," he added.
For the unversed, on October 24, taking to her verified Instagram handle, Mirzapur MP Anupriya Patel had said that through the web series 'Mirzapur', the makers are portraying Mirzapur as a violent city and also spreading ethnic disharmony and demanded immediate action against the showrunners.
Meanwhile, moving on with the interaction with Pankaj, digressing from "Mirzapur' and speaking about his upcoming film 'Ludo', where the actor plays a lovable gangster, Pankaj told DNA, "The entire experience of working with Abhishek (Bachchan), Aditya (Roy Kapur) and Rajkummar (Rao) was amazing. They are all very talented artists and I had a great time working with them."
On being asked why he chose to play a gangster yet again, Pankaj said the only reason he agreed to do the film was that he wanted to work with filmmaker Anurag Basu.
"I like Anurag Basu as a director and the world he creates through his films. I wanted to work with him. One day, Dada (Anurag Basu) called and spoke about the film and my role and I just agreed instantly."
Helmed by Anurag Basu, 'Ludo' has an ensemble cast of Abhishek Bachchan, Aditya Roy Kapur, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Sanya Malhotra and Rajkummar Rao.
