Pankaj Tripathi says ‘itna acting nahi karna chahiye’ as he cuts down work: ‘On Stree 2 set, Amar Kaushik told me I was acting like Atal Bihari Vajpayee’

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“I have decided to cut down on my work. I realised I was ‘overeating’, itna acting nahi karna chahiye,” the actor told Indianexpress.com. “There is a limitation in terms of how you think or perform. I can’t change my physicality, so instead of doing ten projects, it is better I do only three. That way my creative process and mind will get some rest. If I get that, I will be able to work better.”

Giving an example of how his work has started to overlap, Tripathi said he went to shoot his upcoming Stree 2 immediately after Main Atal Hoon and was politely told he was not in character for the horror comedy as he was still playing former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajapyee.

“I finished Atal and the next day I was on the sets of Stree 2. On the first day after my shot, Amar Kaushik came to me and whispered in my ears, ‘Atal ji lag rahe hai!’ I told him what do I do now, I had just finished the film in Delhi last night. So he gave me a day off and asked me to watch Stree and chill. I said de de chutti, I want this!

“I realised this is not good, overnight going from one set to the other, it was overlapping. I need a gap of 30 days. Ten days to wash out what I was doing, ten days of complete rest and be with family and the last ten days to prep for the next role. This is now a must for me.”

 

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After decades of work, Tripathi has finally reached a stage to say no to work. It is a privilege, he said, to say that one is no more chasing money. “Earlier, there was a lot of responsibilities, so I would think let me take up work so that money comes in. Now it is a different situation, the EMIs are almost over. Paiso ki jeevan mein badi bhumika nahi hai, ye baat kehne ke liye bhi paise chahiye. Paise ho, tabhi aadmi ye baat kehta hai, profound mehsoos karta hai,” he added.

Directed by Ravi Jadhav, Main Atal Hoon will release in cinemas on January 19. It is Tripathi’s first release of the year as he will also be seen in Stree 2 and Anurag Basu’s Metro In Dino.