‘My dad wanted me to become a doctor’
Actor Pankaj Tripathi has delivered some of the finest performances in films such as Gangs of Wasseypur (2012), Nil Battey Sannata (2015), Bareilly Ki Barfi and Newton (2017). But who would have thought that Tripathi didn’t want to become an actor in the first place?
“I didn’t want to get into this field; I got interested in it only around when I was 22 or 23,” says the actor, adding, “My father wanted me to become a doctor. The place where I hail from — a village in Gopalganj in North Bihar — people, only know two professions: an engineer or a doctor. I am a son of a farmer. My village is [situated so much in the] interior that there are still no well-built roads there.”
So did his family support him in his acting ambitions? “Yes,” says Pankaj, adding, “They didn’t have any unfulfilled dreams, which they would have wanted me to fulfill. The only concern they had was whether I would be able to earn rozi-roti. I told them that if I went to Delhi
The only concern my parents had was whether I would be able to earn roziroti. I told them that if I went to Delhi, I could even get a government job. PANKAJ TRIPATHI ACTOR
(Pankaj is an alumnus of National School of Drama), I could even get a government job. Now, the thing with middle-class people is that sarkaari job sunke unhe lagta hai theek hoga. So my father said, ‘yes’.” From then till now, it has been a long journey for Pankaj, who started his acting career with the 2004 film Run. He is currently working on two big-ticket projects — Super 30 with actor Hrithik Roshan, and Stree with actor Rajkummar Rao, with whom he has collaborated in many films.