I would feel bad that people didn’t know my name, just the character, says Pankaj Tripathi

Pankaj Tripathi made his Bollywood debut in 2004 with Run, but it wasn’t until much later that the actor got recognition for the brilliant work he did on screen. The role of Sultan Qureshi in Gangs of Wasseypur put the actor on the radar. Soon after, his rise knew no bounds with back-to-back power-packed hits. In a recent interview, Pankaj Tripathi opens up about the long way he has come and how being recognised merely for his on-screen characters was not something that made him happy.

In a recent interview, Pankaj Tripathi said, “If today people call me by my characters’ names, I like it more. In the beginning, however, around six-seven years ago, I would feel bad that people didn’t know my name. They would say, ‘aap actor ho, uss film mein Sultan ka role kiya tha’ I would always wish they knew my name. And today, everyone knows my name but they love my characters so much that they deliberately call me by those names,” he commented.

He also added, “There’s a fan who plants trees on the occasion of my birthday every year. Then there was another one who I encountered while shooting in Delhi for Fukrey 3. He was shouting for two-three hours about how big a fan he is. But we aren’t allowed to get pictures clicked while we are in the character’s costume, in case the look gets leaked. I later got a handwritten note delivered to him.”

The actor also added how he feels sad when his fans cannot get a picture with him. He adds, “Bura lagta hai jab uske baad bhi tasveer nahi khincha sakta. I am astounded that from an eight year old child to a senior citizen, I have a fan in every age group,”

Pankaj Tripathi also commented about how the love he receives from fans is overwhelming and makes him emotional. He says, “Logon ki ummeedein badh gayi hain, uss trust ko barkaraar rakhun. People tell me they listen to me. They go on YouTube to watch my interviews. Itna sammaan hai, emotional ho jaata hoon.”