Pankaj Tripathi’s Photo Was Once On A ‘Wanted Board’ In Police Station; Know Why

Mumbai: Sharing a strange but interesting incident from his life, actor Pankaj Tripathi revealed that his photo was once on a ‘wanted board’ in a police station.

During an interview with Screen, Pankaj said that during the early days of his career, there were a few casting agencies where aspiring actors were asked to dump their photos in a carton box placed outside those offices.

It is from here that his photo was picked up and pinned on the ‘wanted board’ of a police station.

“There was no social media and a handful of casting agencies. These casting agencies have increased now. Earlier, we just had to go from door to door, claiming that we are actors. They used to keep a cardboard carton in which everyone can come and put their photos. At the end of the day, the carton is sent to the floor above to the assistant’s office. I put my pictures in so many such cartons,” the actor recalled.

“Once, a friend of mine got cast in a crime show somewhere. It was a police station setup. He saw a WANTED board hanging there on the set. My friend called me and said, ‘Arey wanted mein teri photo daal di hai (They have given your pic under wanted people).’ I said, ‘Aise kaise (How)?’ I recalled that I had left many of my photos at their office. So, when the art department needed any thief or gangster pictures for the ‘Wanted’ board, they just used those pictures, so mine was up there once.”

After playing supporting roles in films such as ‘Chigurida Kanasu’, ‘Run’, ‘Apaharan’, ‘Omkara’, ‘Mithya’ and ‘Agneepath’, Pankaj gained recognition with ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ and ‘Dabangg 2.’

He has featured in several hit films such as ‘Fukrey’, ‘Singham Returns’, ‘Masaan’, ‘Anaarkali of Aarah’, ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’, ‘Luka Chuppi’, ‘Ludo, 83’ and ‘Main Atal Hoon.’

Pankaj was last seen in Rajkummar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor-starrer ‘Stree 2’.

The actor will be next seen in Anurag Basu’s ‘Metro In Dino,’ which also stars Sara Ali Khan, Aditya Roy Kapur, Ali Fazal, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Anupam Kher, Neena Gupta and Konkona Sen Sharma in key roles.