What did he tell his wife before they got married? Pankaj Tripathi opened up to Brut in this candid chat...
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00Before falling in love, I used to ask her if she would marry me, only then would I fall in love with her.
00:03I had decided two things in the 10th grade, that I would fall in love and get married in the 3rd grade.
00:07And the other thing I had decided was that I would break some discipline and do some work.
00:12But before breaking the discipline, I had decided to learn the discipline first.
00:16Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, all came into action after failing.
00:20This is Plan D, actually.
00:22I am Pankaj, and you are watching me on Brute.
00:36I come from the world of mangoes, mangoes, lemons, potatoes, cauliflowers, onions, sugarcane, sugarcane.
00:47There was no electricity in the 10th grade, so we used to see stars in the sky.
00:50So, I am very attached to the farming nature.
00:54I had seen the theatre for the first time during a puja.
00:57My father is a priest, he used to conduct pujas.
00:59He went to do the bus and tockage.
01:01So, I went with him for the first time.
01:03I must have been in the 9th, 9th or 8th grade.
01:06So, I saw the theatre for the first time during that puja.
01:10I decided how a cinema theatre looks from the inside.
01:13I think I decided to do theatre after the age of 2.
01:17In my village, I didn't have a girl in my class for 2 years.
01:21The boys used to play the role of girls.
01:24So, I became a girl for 2 years in the 10th and 11th grade.
01:33I will write a book on this.
01:35I will write a book on this and get paid for it.
01:37Here, it is a free interview, so I will have to spend money.
01:40The story will be like this.
01:41I decided two things in the 10th grade that I will marry Prem.
01:47I decided to do something after breaking the discipline.
01:51But before breaking the discipline, I wanted to learn the discipline first.
01:56I had decided in my life that I will marry Prem.
01:58Because of that, I used to see the possibility of getting married to the girl I liked.
02:04So, I wanted to get married to her.
02:06Before falling in love with her, I used to ask her if she would marry me.
02:09Only then would I fall in love with her.
02:11She used to say that I am a strange man.
02:13Before falling in love with me, she used to ask me if I would marry her.
02:16I used to say that I will fall in love with you.
02:20I asked my wife if she would marry me.
02:22She said no.
02:23I asked her why. She said that she would fall in love with me.
02:25I said that I don't know about love and marriage.
02:28But luckily, she got married to me.
02:30She used to say no before, but later she agreed.
02:37The journey was good.
02:38It was by train.
02:40Whenever I used to come to Patna, Delhi or Mumbai by train from the village,
02:45the landscape at the back of the train used to shift very fast.
02:51I used to feel very anxious at that time.
02:53I used to feel that the wind is shifting, the earth is shifting.
02:58When will I get the next vacation?
03:00When will I get time?
03:01When will I come back?
03:02Whenever I used to come, I used to feel that something old is shifting.
03:06And I used to welcome something new.
03:09I remember that I got down at Mumbai Central Station on 24th October, 2016.
03:15I had come from Delhi at that time.
03:17I got down at the station and did the ritual of bowing down to the Mumbai Central Platform.
03:23Because I have come.
03:24I have come and now you have to help me.
03:28You are the Karmabhoomi.
03:29This is Swahil.
03:35I have done so many things in my life.
03:38I have drunk so much water that I don't even want to ask.
03:42Sometimes I feel that I was not living my life.
03:45I was writing a book.
03:47How can so much happen in a man's life?
03:51I mean, I worked in a hotel, I wanted to do a land brokerage,
03:55I did a shoe business, I did farming.
03:59And by doing all this, I came to such an unexpected job in the field,
04:03where no one would have expected that I would become an actor.
04:09I had done a lot of preparation, I had studied NSD,
04:13I had done self-assessment of myself.
04:15I had not come just like that, that I should be tall in appearance
04:18or if I do good mimicry, then I will go to Mumbai.
04:23So I had done a lot of preparation, I had done a lot of R&D when I came.
04:27So I had done a lot of research, that where do you want to learn acting, NSD?
04:31If there is no money there, you can go to NSD.
04:33If there is no money there, you can go to NSD.
04:36If there is no money there, you can go to NSD.
04:38To go to NSD, you need a graduation, so I started doing graduation first.
04:42So the day I thought I would go to NSD, it took me 6 years to go to NSD.
04:45After coming to NSD, it took me 8 years again to find a job in Mumbai.
04:50So 8 to 14, 15 years was the time of exile.
04:58Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, all came in acting after failing.
05:02Actually, this is Plan D.
05:06There was a stoppage here, that apart from this, I have to go back to farming,
05:10which was my plan, which I used to do in childhood.
05:13If this does not happen, then I will go back and do farming.
05:16So I had left the hotel job, I was tired of doing a lot of small business in between.
05:22It did not happen, it was a failure.
05:23So this was my last plan.
05:25What is the process of becoming a director?
05:30It is a long process, which is slowly explored.
05:35When I did not have a job, when I was in the beginning for 8-10 years,
05:42I was constantly working on my craft,
05:46what should I do that is different from others, which is unique.
05:51If it comes in one scene, it will be registered,
05:52who was this, who was that, what did he do, how did he do it?
05:56Again, at the same time, it should be real, believable, engaging, entertaining.
06:00So that 8 years of free time was actually a process of exploring.
06:04At that time, I was not free, I was learning, I was working on my craft.
06:09That the day I get a chance to play cricket, I will play that day,
06:13but I need a lot of practice for that.
06:15How did you audition for the role of Bhawana Talwar?
06:20After coming to Bombay, there was a film called Dharam,
06:25Bhawana Talwar was the director, I auditioned for that.
06:28I got an interesting part, it was a long role in Dharam.
06:32I remember Bhawana called me one day,
06:35she saw my scenes on the editing table, sat with the editor and called me.
06:39She told me that you are a horse of a long race.
06:42I said, why, how?
06:43She said, I am sitting on the editing table and watching your scene.
06:46I said, wow, thank you Bhawana ji.
06:54I am looking for something intense these days,
06:56I feel like doing an intense, serious film next year.
07:05I don't remember anyone telling me that I need a selfie,
07:08and I have refused so far.
07:11Rarely, I have refused to take a selfie in my life,
07:15when I have to catch a flight and I am running in a hurry.
07:18There is no time.
07:19Only then I would have said, there is no time,
07:21forgive me, I ran away.
07:22Otherwise, I usually stop and think,
07:24as an actor, this is what I wanted, people to recognize me.
07:27When people started recognizing me,
07:29then why do I have to wear glasses and make distances?