NEW DELHI: Pankaj Tripathi is humble enough to accept his star status but the acclaimed actor says he doubts if he will ever become the quintessential Hindi film superstar.
The 44-year-old actor has had one of the most successful years in 2020 as his sensitive act in “Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl” was well-received, followed by a return as fan-favourite Kaleen Bhaiya in “Mirzapur” season two. He also stood out as Sattu Bhaiya in Anurag Basu’s anthology “Ludo”.
With his next “Shakeela”, a biographical feature on titular adult actor who was one of the biggest stars of the 1990s from Kerala, Tripathi steps into the shoes of a fictional superstar named Salim.
“Indrajit Lankesh (director) narrated me the script and I liked it very much. It was the role of superstar Salim and I knew that I would never get to witness what superstardom is like, so I thought why not witness it all through this character.
“It was a great opportunity for me, the character is quite flamboyant and wears colourful clothes. He is unpredictable or gives the performance of unpredictability. It was a very fun and interesting part,” the actor said in an interview.
Though it took off late, Tripathi’s career is filled with critically-acclaimed movies and shows of recent times such as “Gangs of Wasseypur”, “Gurgaon”, “Mirzapur”, “Sacred Games”, “Masaan”, “Newton”, “Nil Battey Sannata” and “Bareilly Ki Barfi”.
But the actor said the number of hits he has given won’t change the person he is in real-life.
“We all have a particular image and perception about a traditional superstar and how lives his life and what all he does. But I know that even if I get superstardom, I would never be able to live up to that image.
“I’m simpleton and even if I try, I won’t be able to do this. I can’t act in real life. I believe that I can only witness that superstardom in reel life, not real life.” (AGENCIES)
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