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Pankaj Tripathi: Take pride in being a dependable actor
Updated on: 20 July, 2021 12:00 PM IST |
His repertoire is as eclectic as it is robust, making one wonder what Pankaj Tripathi seeks in a script. The actor says he has a simple ask from every project — he is merely looking for “good company”. Once that is met, he can be lured in by his character. &39;Mimi&39;, led by Kriti Sanon, was one of those films that ticked both boxes. “In this film, Laxman Utekar [director] was the [driving] factor. We bonded over our similar backgrounds; he comes from rural Maharashtra, and I, from Bihar. Kriti was another draw. Bareilly Ki Barfi [2017] was the start of a different vein of films for her. She has matured vastly as an actor since,” begins Tripathi.
The comedy sees Sanon as a small-town dancer who agrees to become a surrogate mother for a couple, but the journey isn’t without hilarious twists. Quiz him if the small-town sub-genre has been over-exploited, and Tripathi disagrees with the generalisation. “How can a film be gauged by its landscape? The story matters more than the milieu. Small-town stories aren’t a formula. If [a maker] feels that setting a story in an old house with a loud dadi and chachis will sell a film, that won’t happen. Today, the audience will reject bad stories.”
The trailer of the Jio Cinema offering was lapped up by the audience, with a fan cheekily tweeting, ‘Someone check on Pankaj Tripathi. He must be tired of shouldering the weight of so many films.’ The statement may not be too far from the truth — the actor has often elevated films by his able performances. “I take pride in being a dependable actor. I am flattered. But doing eight films a year and shooting for 350 days had drained me. The lockdown made me realise the need for weekly offs and my own inability to perform consistently for 30 days a month. I want my makers and the audience to trust me, and for that to continue, I have to be consistent.”
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