Pankaj Tripathi: We felt the sadness that the Indian cricket team must have gone through – Exclusive! – Times of India


As Kabir Khan‘s sports drama ‘83 hits the big screens today, ETimes caught up with Pankaj Tripathi, who plays the role of the former manager of Indian cricket team, Man Singh. He spoke to us about adding a fun element to his role, training for the Hyderabadi accent, how the actors got emotional while reenacting the scenes, future projects and much more. Excerpts from the interview:

Playing Man Singh was not that easy for you, but you added a fun element to the role. How was that for you?


It was a great experience. I enjoyed it. It was an amazing script, the director was amazing as well. The beginning was tough, I had to speak in a Hyderabadi accent for which I had to take training. Then it got easy, there wasn’t much to do. Man sir, whose role I have played is like that only, he’s an interesting person. So it wasn’t that difficult.

Your accent is very different. So how did you learn that?

Yeah, I learnt that. There’s a woman named Alahe in Hyderabad who taught me this. Man sir speaks the southern language and so he said let’s make him speak as well, it would be interesting and something new for you too. So in terms of look, body language, speech, it was a new role for me. I had never done something like this before. It was a relief for me too that I’m getting to play a different role than what I’ve been doing continuously. So after finishing Man sir’s role, in between I returned to Mumbai from London and from there I went to Banaras for playing a gangster’s role (Kaleen bhaiya) in a web series (‘Mirzapur’) and then I returned back to London for ’83. So both these characters are completely different from each other, Kaleen bhaiya and Man sir’s character, so it was enjoyable. I want roles which are a bit out of my comfort zone, because I get a lot of roles which are under my comfort zone. So this movie gave me that opportunity, where I had to do a little bit of hard work. I wanted to feel a little bit of fear before taking the shot, so that happened as well.

When you were approached for this role, were you a bit sceptical about doing it? Because there are a lot of expectations as the film is based on reality. We won the World Cup and your role wasn’t easy because you are the one who’s actually at the forefront for all these cricketers. So were you a little bit sceptical while signing the film?

No, why would I be? It was such an amazing story that on the first day when they narrated, I saw the film through their eyes. I was excited that this is going to be something different and it’s going to be fun. I didn’t get to play though. Man sir himself has been a cricketer, so it would have been good if I had gotten a chance to play in this one but it’s based on a real incident. Fourteen players including Man Singh, a total of 15 players only had gone. So Man sir was the manager, physiotherapist, attendant, cashier, he was everything.

It’s not just a movie, it’s an emotion. Because we won, when it was not expected. So how emotional did you get while working on this movie?


Very much. I remember the interval part that we were filming, there was a shot where me, Ranveer, and the whole team was sitting in the bus, the Indian fans and the crowd are there, people are standing, and a kid among the crowd lifts the Indian flag. When we were doing this scene, trying to recreate the history we were somewhere living it. I felt a lot that they must have felt the same way as we’re feeling now seeing all this. When we perform, during the performance we can feel the sadness of the moment. So that was very emotional for me. At 175 in the match, when I go for the over, that moment and the interval point were very emotional for me and while doing it, we felt the sadness that the real team must have gone through.

Where were you when India won the World Cup?

I was in my village, Belsand in the north. There wasn’t even a radio set in my village then. So I might have got to know in 1988 that India won the World Cup in 1983. I was just 7-8 years old in my village and there wasn’t a radio so I got to know 4-5 years later. At that time cricket wasn’t that popular. From 1988 or 1989, we started listening to the radio. I started listening to these players on the radio. Life keeps so many surprise elements for you. A boy from a small village, who listened to Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil sir on radio had never thought that he’ll get to meet them, this movie made that possible. I got very emotional, I narrated this story to Sunil Gavaskar sir. Every person’s life is filled with a lot of unexpected things which you can’t predict. So for me, it was a wonderful moment to meet these players. Last week, I met Dhoni sir. I felt like now I’ve met the 2 time World Champion captain, what else do I ask for.

You’re playing a supporting character to Ranveer Singh‘s role. So while working with him, what did you learn, knowing this person as an actor?

Ranveer is very sincere and hardworking. The bonding between the kids was wonderful. They’re my co-stars and I’m calling them kids though I’m not a very senior person. I haven’t watched the film yet because on the trial day, I was shooting. So you must have seen the team’s bonding, their chemistry on screen was very good. So Ranveer is a good team leader and a sincere, hardworking actor as well. It’s visible how well Vikram sir has worked on the look of all the players.

You also spoke recently that when you came to the Industry, your peers weren’t supportive of you. They used to poke fun at you and that used to make you feel a bit angry, a bit humiliated. Do you somewhere feel that feeling doesn’t exist now? Has that change happened?

It’s not that big thing, there were 3-4 incidents which made me feel so, which happens in any field. Change has happened for sure. Few years back, no one knew me. I was made to leave from outside the office and now when films are made, I get to know the script a year before only. Producers call me saying that there’s a film, when will you listen to the story. Even if I’d say that I don’t have time, they’re like, ‘ It’s fine, we have a year’s time’. So yeah, things have surely changed. I never keep humiliations in mind, I let it go thinking of it as a part of the job. You have to go through these things no matter which field you are in and that’s the organic process. Everyone’s not kind and ready to teach you. This is how life is.

Mahesh Manjrekar sir said that he feels quite jealous, to see how you have grown as an actor and the kind of roles that are offered to you. He said that in a very happy way. How does that feel?

Mahesh sir is a very senior person. He’s a great actor and director. It’s his love, the compliment which he has given me is his love. Even I didn’t realise this, in the previous lockdown I realised that I have started to get good roles, written roles. I never had the idea because I was never choosy. Whatever got in my way, if it fits with the dates, I just did it. Now there are many films in which I’m playing the lead role, I just finished ‘Sherdil’ and ‘OMG’. I feel like from day one, even when I did one scene roles, that was a lead role for me. It’s just that its length was less in that film, I lived the remaining part in my life, even though I came in the film for sometime. So my sincerity and approach is same towards every role, be it 2 hours long or 10 minutes. So I’m grateful and the change that has happened is that roles are being written for an actor like me. And an actor like me is so busy that for the next one year, he doesn’t have time. So this is a good sign, I guess.

Do you somewhere also give credits to your role of Kaleen bhaiya in ‘Mirzapur’, because that role was appreciated a lot and it was a very strong role?


Yes, of course. While shooting for ‘Mirzapur’, I didn’t have much detail about what I was doing. After editing, guru told me that you have underplayed and the role has come out differently. In Season 2, they showed me scenes from Season 1 to show me how I did the scenes before because I didn’t remember. So yes, ‘Mirzapur’ has a big role, ‘Newton’ has a very big role in the change that has happened. Because of ‘Newton’, I received the National Award. Being a critically acclaimed film, it did well at the box office as well. In recent times, whichever films that I’ve been a part of, have done commercially well and are critically appreciated, be it ‘Mimi’, ‘Gunjan Saxena’, ‘Ludo‘, ‘Kagaz’, ‘Mirzapur’, ‘Criminal Justice’. I don’t know if I’d call it luck, I would just say I’m grateful. There was no planning, it just happened.

Your schedule is quite busy for the next few months. So what are the projects you’re working on?

I will do ‘Criminal Justice 3’, ‘Fukrey 3’, ‘Mirzapur 3’, and a Reliance film and there are one or two more which I’m not allowed to talk about, yet. So there’s too much. I’m hoping everything goes well.

Recently you said that you’re an actor and not a salesman, when you were questioned about the endorsements you do. So what was your take on this? What made you say that?

I feel like an actor becomes an actor when the society has acceptance towards them or their craft. I always think that in life, it would still be okay if I become a bad actor but I don’t ever want to become a bad person. So I think that with society’s love and acceptance, one becomes an actor, so we too have some social responsibilities. So I have my criteria that if I’m acting in an ad film, I would consider, ‘Do I use that product myself?’ Even though I don’t use it, because there are many products that I don’t use, then can it be harmful for society or any individual in any way?’ So I prioritise these things over my bank balance, that would come and go. But everyone has their own opinion and a person lives through that. It’s possible that my opinion changes with time, though I think it won’t happen, it’s difficult. But I’m a human and so I’m not 100% sure about tomorrow. So if I have a doubt or don’t understand things, in terms of product advertisement, I let it go.

What are your new year plans and what do you pray for 2022?

The plan is that if there’s no fog in north India, I would visit my village. If everything’s normal, I would go to my village, otherwise I’d stay in Mumbai. I have a holiday for 2-3 days and after this I won’t get a holiday for 8-9 months. So I’ll stay with my wife and my kids at home only.

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