Pankaj Tripathi loves the vibes of south Indian film sets
Pankaj Tripathi, whose last outing was the Rajkummar Rao- and Shraddha Kapoor-starrer Stree, is eagerly awaiting four more releases this year. The National Awardwinning actor has just begun shooting for the Indrajit Lankesh biopic on Shakeela, the southern superstar and adult film actor, who ruled all the south Indian film industries for over two decades.
Pankaj has begun shooting in Bangalore with his Fukrey (2013) co-star, Richa Chadha, who plays the titular role in the film. A source close to Pankaj reveals, “While the prep for each role that he plays is definitely different, it seems that he loves the vibes of south Indian film sets. While the film is in Hindi, it is being directed by a south Indian film-maker, and mostly everyone on the set is south Indian too. Pankaj has acted with Rajnikanth in Kaala and had noticed that the work ethic, the culture, etc. is much different than Bollywood. He loves the pace of the sets there and enjoys the various languages that are spoken and wants to grasp all of that while prepping for his role.”
When asked about his work experience, Pankaj, who plays one of the male leads in the film, says, “Apart from the language and the environment on the set, the food is fantastic. I am enjoying and relishing every bite of south Indian food that arrives on set. The biggest difference is in terms of my look. I never imagined I would be in colourful clothes and dance, and since I am doing it all, it’s a lot of fun on the sets.”