The joy of playing a good character and one, with whom one resonates is always good for an actor. Pankaj Tripathi, Bollywood’s king of versatility had a memorable experience with one of his characters. Which one is it? The character is none other than, Anup Saxena which he recently portrayed in Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl. Playing the role of Janhvi Kapoor’s father in the film, made him fall in love with the character.
After seeing his perfect performance in the film, his friends called him and shared that they loved his bond with Janhvi in the film, which reminded them of their own relationships with their daughters. Pankaj, talked about playing the character in an interview with Press Trust Of India and said,
“It’s a very important role in my career because of the way I am or want to be as a father, the film represents that. ‘Mujhe gunda, mawali bana dete hai’ (I often get villainous roles). But playing Anup Saxena was close to what I am in real life with my daughter or aspire to be. I want the world to have more such fathers.”
He further said, “I remember when people who know me watched the film, they called me and told me, ‘Yaar, after seeing your film, I went home and hugged my daughter’. This solves my purpose.”
The actor has become quite popular for playing negative characters in films such as Gangs Of Wasseypur ,Gurgaon and the web series Mirzapur and Sacred Games. Although, people also remember him for playing progressive male characters in Masaan, Nil Battey Sannata and Bareilly ki Barfi.
Pankaj’s performance not just touched his own friends but also producer, Boney Kapoor the real life father of actor, Janvhi Kapoor. Pankaj shared that Boney texted him after watching the film and said :
“Boneyji sent me a message late in the night. He was very emotional after watching the film. He wrote, ‘You are a better father to Janhvi than me’. It touched me.”
His on-screen relationship and bond with Janvhi was a result of Janvhi’s hard-work off the sets according to Pankaj. He revealed how Janvhi used to come to his home, to get to know him and his family. Talking about this he shared:
She would call me ‘Sir, where are you? When do you finish shooting? Should I come?’ I would say, ‘Haan, aa jao. Poochhna kya?’ (Sure, why the formality?) She would be there eating with my family by the time I reached home. She spent five-six days and lived like a family member with my wife and daughter.”
While, Pankaj usually trusts any director he works with, the actor is ready to improve if his director wants. Like other directors he trusted, Sharan Sharma director of the film equally.
Apart from Pankaj and Janvhi, Gunjan Saxena also stars Angad Bedi, Manav Vij, Vineet Kumar Singh and Ayesha Raza Mishra. The film is coming out on Netflix on August 12. It is a real life story of Gunjan Saxena, who became the first Indian woman combat air force pilot during the Kargil War in 1999.
Will you watch Pankaj ji and Janvhi Kapoor’s exceptional bond in the film ? Tell us in the comments section, below.