Pankaj Tripathi, who has kind of become the face of heartland stories in Bollywood, is on cloud nine. His recently released film, Sherdil: The Pilibhit Saga, is winning hearts of audiences.
The movie revolves around a sensitive issue with Pankaj essaying the role of a rural man who wants to do good for his village. The versatile actor was quite excited about the film with which he finds a close connection.
When asked how he resonates with the film’s title Sherdil in his real life, he shares, “A lot of people have told me this is earlier, someone who has also come from a rural area, who aspires to become a hero by doing good for his people, and this is what my character is doing. Both of us have a similar journey. I feel there are a lot of sherdil people working silently for the good. Doctors who worked during the pandemic for Covid patients are also sherdil in every way.”
Talking about his experience of working with Sayani Gupta and Neeraj Kabi, he reveals, “When a film has actors like Neeraj, Sayani and I, there has to be a good give and take of great acting. There was no competition between us. We intended to make a good film together.”
When further asked how he has changed the dimensions of a quintessential Hindi film actor, he avers, “My process of work lies between pre-and post-production. While Sherdil has released, I am shooting Fukrey 3 and in between these projects, my short film, Laali, also came out. I believe in experimenting to become a better actor each time. Big budget films are also important though, it’s fun to shoot them too but I don’t like to be trapped in the number game.”
Pankaj Tripathi has majorly done films with heartland stories. Sharing how easy it is for him to adapt to such roles, Pankaj says, “It’s easy for me to do such roles since I have grown up in that environment. This is the reason I desperately want to do an urban drama. I am also looking for an opportunity to work with Imtiaz Ali, I like his work and vision towards a subject.”
