Pankaj Tripathi, today, is one of the best Bollywood actors and is often called a scene thief because of his ability to win hearts even in short roles.Â
Anyone who loves action, comedy, and entertaining movies must be a fan of Pankaj Sir. In an interview, he stressed that he has never stopped working on his craft since the day he started acting.
His Childhood and FamilyÂ
Pankaj Tripathi was born on September 5th, 1976, as the youngest of four children to Pandit Benare Tripathi and Hemwanti Tripathi, in a Hindu Sanatani family in the village of Belsand, in the Gopalganj district of the Indian state Bihar. He started working as a farmer while still in school as he hails from a farming family. His father wanted him to become a doctor, but he went to a hotel management school in Patna. Pankaj graduated from D P H School in Gopalganj, Bihar, and later, from the National School of Drama (NSD) in Delhi, India.
On January 15th, 2004, he married Mridula Tripathi. They have a daughter. He did not earn much between 2004 and 2010, and his wife took care of all expenses while he roamed the streets of Andheri in search of work. His wife took over the burden of the expenses for the maintenance of our household. In the interview, the actor said of his fighting days: “I was looking for work in Andheri for six years and I couldn’t find anything. I used to walk around the city begging people to do something and get it done.”
In the interview, Tripathi described his life story; how he became one of Bollywood’s most sought-after actors. As a child, he grew up in the village of Bihar’s Belsand where he used to play the role of girls in the village nataks; it earned him the appreciation of the villagers and started his journey towards Bollywood. In 12th grade, he saw the play Andha Kaun by actor Pranita Jaiswal. And it was a performance that inspired him and moved him to tears.
His Life as an Actor and Struggler
After his studies in Patna, Pankaj joined the ABVP and participated in the student movement. He made his debut with a small uncredited role in the film Run in 2004 and also had a small role in Omkara. In 2008, he acted in the Bahubali TV series and later in Powder on Sony TV. He has since appeared in over 60 films and television shows.Â
His big breakthrough came in 2012 with his supporting role in Gangs of Wasseypur. He was critically acclaimed for several films, including Masaan, Fukrey, Bareilly Ki Barfi, Nil Battey Sannata, Newton, and Fukrey Returns.Â
It was a monotonous life in which Pankaj packed his lunch, went to the TV, shot all day, ate his food, came back exhausted, and fell asleep. In his interview, he told how his audition for Gangs of Wasseypur lasted eight hours.
Pankaj said: “When the offer for Newton came to me, I was working on a TV series.” In 2017, the film Newton was released and was India’s official entry for the Oscars in the category of Best Foreign Film.
Later, he made his Tamil debut with the film Kaala, released in 2018 with mega superstar Rajnikanth in the leading role. While initially, all the roles he played were of gangsters, he turned away from negative characters and explored himself in many other characters.
Pankaj Tripathi recently got his new home on Madh Island. After being praised for his web series Criminal Justice, the actor believes that the secret to his work is his ability to grow and achieve unexpected success. Pankaj also spoke about Mirzapur 2, the pressure to meet the expectations of the previous season, to be a man with few needs.
