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Actor Pankaj Tripathi has responded to his contemporary Pankaj Jha’s claims that he “glamorised” his struggles. Tripathi, who shot to fame with Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur in 2012, said that he has never “romanticised” his struggles in the industry. In an interview with The Lallantop, Pankaj Jha, known for playing Vidhayak ji in Panchayat, had said that if one has chosen to follow their passion, they should enjoy the journey and not complain about the issues they had to deal with.
“As we’ve seen often in the industry, people like to glamourise their struggles. Some people say they sold potatoes, others say they lived in a tiny house, some say they stole another actor’s slippers. I feel every situation is a learning experience.” His comment was in reference to an episode of The Kapil Sharma Show, where Manoj Bajpayee had revealed that Pankaj Tripathi once ‘stole’ one of his slippers to keep as a souvenir. Pankaj was working at a hotel where Manoj once stayed at as a guest.
Now, in an interview with India Today, Pankaj Tripathi was asked about Jha’s comment, to which he said, “I never romanticised my journey or struggles. Yes, I did mention that my wife used to earn while I looked for work. I never said that I would tie a gamcha (towel) on my waist and sleep outside Andheri station. I had a good and happy life when we moved to Mumbai. I have never tried to glamorise or seek sympathy from it.”
The actor said that everyone fights their own battles, and if people read or hear their stories, there are possibilities some may get inspired. “And even if they don’t, that’s not an issue. One has just to live their own lives the way they want.”
The actor said that he has been influenced a lot by Om Puri and Manoj Bajpayee. “I have definitely taken inspiration from them. Similarly, some may be motivated by my journey or someone else’s. We are all on our journey and if someone may connect with some part of it, not necessarily in terms of acting and art but in any way.” When asked if Jha’s allegation hurt him, Pankaj Tripathi replied, “Not at all. I am not someone to get hurt. All this noise doesn’t affect me at all.”
Pankaj Jha had also claimed that filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, with whom he previously worked on films like Black Friday and Gulaal, had approached him for the role of Sultan Qureshi in Gangs of Wasseypur, which was eventually played by Tripathi.
Later, however, Pankaj Jha said he had had never commented on Pankaj Tripathi. Speaking to Indianexpress.com, Jha said, “I never mentioned the name of any Tripathi in any of my interviews so far. You can go listen to all of my interviews, you will know I haven’t mentioned anybody’s name at all. This is very childish thing to do. Why will I go talk all this to anybody? Media always needs masala, I never said anything such, they just made it up. Becoming an actor is not the ultimate achievement. Just like how every actor wants to become a big star, similarly several journalists are also running behind fame. They make up stories to gain attention and recognition.” Responding to Jha’s comments, Anurag had called it a case of sour grapes. “Now he may be thinking after 20 years, he could have become Pankaj Tripathi,” the filmmaker told India Today.
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