Belsand to Bollywood: Pankaj Tripathi's long road to stardom

Pankaj Tripathi’s showbiz career reads like the quintessential ‘Bollywood Struggler’ story. Bitten by the acting bug as a Class 12 student after watching Pranita Jaiswal in Andha Kuan, Tripathi shored up his earnings by working overtime at a hotel, before going to graduate from the National School of Drama in 2004 (Nawazuddin Siddiqui was his senior). He then moved to Mumbai — and found almost no paid acting gigs for the next eight years. Tripathi did the rounds of all the production houses; when that didn’t yield any results, he did it all over again. All this while, his wife was taking care of the household expenses.

“I remember leaving home early to show my profile to different production houses but nobody was interested. I used to roam around in Andheri and urge people: ‘Koi acting karwa lo (Someone please give me an acting job)’ but it seemed like no one was listening,” Tripathi recollects, in an interview with this correspondent for OTTplay. 

It wouldn’t have been unusual, in these circumstances, for Tripathi to lose hope… to believe that he would never ‘make it’ as an actor. But “Bilkul nahi, kabhi nahi,” he says. “Pankaj Tripathi can never think of giving up. I come from a hard-working middle-class family so giving up can never come to my mind.”

His upbringing aside, Tripathi’s perseverance may have some basis in a philosophical sang froid too. He believes in doing his work and leaving [the results] to time. One’s fortunes may change, but honest effort and a clear-eyed self-assessment are vital, he adds.

It’s these very attributes that saw him through fleeting appearances in various films before becoming a recognisable name with Anurag Kashyap's Gangs of Wasseypur in 2012. Raavan, Dabangg 2, Fukrey, Singham Returns, Bareilly Ki Barfi, Newton, Stree, Ludo, Mimi, Gunjan Saxena, Gurgaon and Bachchan Paandey were some of the other projects that followed. However, it was courtesy the evolution of OTT content that Tripathi truly reached centrestage, with his roles in Sacred Games, Mirzapur and Criminal Justice bringing him acclaim as one of the most gifted Indian actors of recent times.

Analysing what has made him an audience favourite, Tripathi says it’s the relatability of the characters he portrays. The writers who have etched out these parts and the directors who bring the varied strands of a project together into a cohesive film/series are the ones who deserve the credit, Tripathi asserts. One such well-written role that Tripathi reprises is that of Madhav Mishra in Criminal Justice Season 3 (premiering August 26 on Disney+ Hotstar). While Mishra’s catchphrase is “Jeet aapki ya meri nahi, nyay ki honi chahiye”, Tripathi says what he enjoys most about the narrative is that it isn’t just a legal drama but also about the protagonist’s family and personal life.

Fifteen years into his film industry career, with a repertoire full of path-breaking roles and an eventful journey from Bihar’s Belsand to Bombay later, has Tripathi, 47, finally learnt to enjoy his stardom and attendant lifestyle?

Not quite. His wife and he have no taste for the uber-luxe lifestyle, Tripathi says. “I have grown up understanding the value of money and I don’t think my perception towards material wealth will change anytime soon,” he notes.

As for taking it easy and resting on the laurels he’s earned so far, that idea doesn’t sit well with Tripathi either: “There is no shortcut to success other than hard work and I have come this far only because of that. I never expected that I would become this famous. I don’t know any gimmick other than hard work and sincerity, and I follow the same rules in my personal life too.”