Panchayat’s Pankaj Jha aka Vidhayak says he never spoke against Pankaj Tripathi, Anurag Kashyap: ‘They are my friends’

 

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He added, “This news makes no sense. He (Pankaj Tripathi) is a very good friend of mine. We have worked together in films. He is my junior after all. He came much later, I have been in films for a very long time. Similarly, Anurag Kashyap is my friend. He is like a brother to me. We have worked together in films Gulal and Back Friday. Why will I go around talking ill about them?”

“All these news of me calling him spineless are all things twisted and made up. I don’t have a control on who will write what, they keep making up stories for their own benefit. Journalists are trusted with a lot of responsibilities, they are expected to inform us with good news, news that can educate, inform, not twist statements for masala,” said the Monsoon Wedding actor.

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“According to me, a journalist is who translates the news just as it is, without tweaking it for personal benefits. In the old days, my grandfather used to look for a trusted person to carry his message to a person in another village. It is a very responsible job, this person was trusted with a crucial information and was respected for carrying the exact message and not making things up in between. And that’s how it should be. Let them makeup stories and headlines, I am unbothered”, said Pankaj who hails from Bihar’s Saharsa.

 

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In an interview to Digital Commentary, Pankaj was asked about the time when he lost the role of Sultan in Gangs Of Wasseypur to Pankaj Tripathi. The interviewer asked, “Do you think this involved any internal politics?”, to which Pankaj Jha replied, “I stay unbothered of the politics. If I will be affected by the politics then it will be the victory of the person who is doing the politics. Why will I let that happen? People who do politics are cowards.”

He was next questioned about his bonding with Anurag Kashyap and still missing the role despite having worked with him in Gulal and Black Friday. To this, Pankaj said, “We are director-maker actors. If a film makes someone an actor, it also makes a director. But in this industry, we have so many cowards and spineless people who can’t even keep their opinion before others. Eventually, you understand that directors too are suffering without jobs.”

Bringing the conversation back to missing his role in Gangs of Wasseypur, Pankaj said, “I had gone to Patna for two days for a shoot. During that time, I received a message from Mukesh Chhabra who called me for the role, I told him, ‘I will take two days.’ By the time I returned, I was told someone else was given that role. At situations like this, especially when you are friends with the people involved, you develop some expectations. At that time, I wasn’t aware of the world so much. They must have been upset with me. During the same time, I met a journalist from Patna, because we were from the same place, I ended up talking to him. Later, he published things on his own. But, nothing was true. I still love Anurag Kashyap. I have no complains.”