Pankaj Tripathi says people get selfies with him because of ‘shabash beta’ memes: ‘They had not seen any work of mine’

Pankaj Tripathi said that he was quite surprised when two kids walked up to him to get a selfie with him because they saw him in memes.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | December 5, 2023 08:02 PM IST

3 min read

Pankaj Tripathi in a still from Mirzapur.

Pankaj Tripathi has worked in some of the best films and web shows of recent times. While it might seem like the country has seen and appreciated his work, the actor recently shared that sometimes people come up to him to click photos because they have seen him in a meme or reel.

Pankaj was a guest on Curly Tales. When asked about his fans who come up to him for selfies and photos, the actor recalled an incident where two kids came to get a photo with him because they had only seen him in memes and reels, and had actually never seen any of his films or shows. “I was recently in my village and two kids came up to me for a photo. I looked at them and thought that it doesn’t look like they have seen any of my works. So I asked them what have you seen? They said you come in reels and you say ‘shabash’. They came up to me because they had seen me in memes and that’s why they came to get a photo. That’s when I realised that the world of memes and reels is too big,” he shared. His dialogue ‘shabash beta’ from Mirzapur became a popular gif and is often seen in memes.

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Pankaj Tripathi said that he is always surprised when he gets recognised in the interiors of the country and he makes it a point to ask those fans about the film or show they have seen. “When we are shooting somewhere in the interiors of North-East, or Bengal, or somewhere far away in the hills… I go to places where there aren’t many tourists, smaller places, and if I meet someone who knows me there, I’m always surprised. Then I am even more curious as to what work have they seen,” he said.

Pankaj was recently honoured with the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in Laxman Utekar’s Mimi. He is now gearing up for the release of Kadak Singh, which releases on ZEE5 on December 8.

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