Check out National Award-winning actor Pankaj Tripathi’s top three works

Born and brought up in Belsand village in Gopalganj district in Bihar, Pankaj shared how nobody in his family and neighbourhood ever imagined that he would become famous as an actor or even travel to any international destination beyond Nepal.

Hyderabad: On the occasion of his birthday, National Award-winning actor Pankaj Tripathi looks back at his journey and three films that are very close to his heart.

Born and brought up in Belsand village in Gopalganj district in Bihar, Pankaj shared how nobody in his family and neighbourhood ever imagined that he would become famous as an actor or even travel to any international destination beyond Nepal.

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Pankaj said, “I remember it was my sister’s wedding when an astrologer said to me in front of everyone that I will travel the world and I will be into a profession that will allow me to earn money and respect. (Laughs) Nobody, and honestly speaking including me, ever imagined that I will get so much love and appreciation from audience and critics alike. I know, now, those memories sound like folklore but I still feel very fortunate because many talented people take 10 years just to meet the right person at the right time. It has happened to me as well.”
Starting his career in 2004, Pankaj went through hard times and did television shows, before getting his breakthrough in cinema. When we asked to choose his most favourite three works so far, Pankaj shared what made these projects so special.

Powder

A television series aired on Sony Entertainment Television in 2010, it was a crime thriller and Pankaj played the character of Naved Ansari, a drug kingpin of Mumbai. He said, “Back in those days, a show that unveils the dark side of the world of business, drugs, etc., was not made in our TV or cinema as it is today. My character Naved was really appreciated by critics and members of our fraternity. I was noticed by other actors and they started getting to know that I exist because that I was just struggling to get acting jobs.”

Gurgaon

Directed by Shanker Raman the film revolves around the story of Kehri Singh, a business tycoon. Recalling that phase of his life, Pankaj said, “Back then in 2017, in my career I was going through so much uncertainty. Quite interestingly, my character Kehri also has an arch from zero to a rich businessman, who became abusive, alcoholic, etc. Our director Shankar sir was a wise man who told me, ‘Pankaj the script is your map, now you build the character.’ That made me invest my mind to the whole process of making it. But it was tough for me because the character ages within the film and I did not have that much experience in life.”

Newton

Released in 2017, the film was directed by Amit Masurkar featuring Rajkummar Rao, Anjali Patil and Raghubir Yadav. The film was an Indian entry to the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards. “When the offer of the film came to me, I was working for a TV series. It was quite a monotonous life where I would pack my lunch, go to the TV show set, shoot the whole day, eat my food, come back home exhausted and go to sleep. I was emotionally feeling down. So, when ‘Newton’ came to me, while I liked the character Atman Singh, I was mainly excited because, for 40 days, the film will be shot outdoors, under the open sky! That whole feeling of breathing fresh air instead of shooting in a closed place was so so refreshing,” Pankaj said.