Pankaj Tripathi’s Brush With Politics And How It Was Nipped In The Bud

New Delhi: Pankaj Tripathi is one of Bollywood’s most versatile and loved actors.

However, his career may have taken a completely different path had fate not intervened.

Pankaj, who is playing late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s role in the biopic ‘Main Atal Hoon’, revealed in an interview how his early inclination towards politics was nipped in the bud early.

Pankaj was a member of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) during his college days in Bihar, where “everyone is a politician.”

Though he didn’t join ABVP with the target of joining politics, the thought did cross his mind later.

But then he got arrested and was beaten by policemen, after which he abandoned the idea of becoming a politician.

“There was a thought that I might proceed in this line (politics)… but then there was an arrest and the cops beat me up, so I left that thought there and then. At the same time, I became inclined towards plays and dramas and after watching those, I got more attracted towards theatre,” Pankaj told ANI.

During the recent trailer launch of ‘Main Atal Hoon’, Pankaj recalled his ABVP days.

“I was in a youth wing and participated in andolans (movements). I was even jailed for a week! Toh main uss raaste pe nikal chuka tha (So I was into that path). Then I realised that the path of politics is full of thorns. Hence, I took a turn and started developing an interest in street theatre. There was Kaildas Rangalaya, Patna where I enrolled myself. Mujhe laga ki yeh behtar hai… Yahaan kam se kam bol ke acting hoti hai ki ‘main acting kar raha hoon’, (I felt this was better… at least I can say that I am acting),” Pankaj quipped.

‘Main Atal Hoon’, directed by Ravi Jadhav, will hit the theatres on January 19.