Pankaj Tripathi was born on 5 September 1976 in Belsand Village, near Gopalganj, Bihar. Pankaj Tripathi is one of these rare breeds of actors who can get into the soul of the character and can make it his own. He is such an amazing actor that he can steal the scene where he appears. Many of us are not aware of the fact that he was a good athlete during his school day, especially in high jumps and 100-meter sprints.
Also Read: Pankaj Tripathi (पंकज त्रिपाठी) Net Worth, Age, Wiki, Photos, Awards & Controversy Today
He belongs to a very humble family and his village had no electricity and good infrastructure. In an interview, Pankaj Tripathi once told that he used to read under a tree because of the poor condition of his school. Tripathi was very fond of movies and regularly watches them along with plays in his village. After reaching the age of twelve, he began to act in plays during Chat Puja. Usually, he performed playing women in those plays and audiences used to love his acting. This made him take the decision to bein an actor but a poor boy from a backward village becoming an actor was farfetched but as they say, where there is a will, there is a way.
Pankaj Tripathi helped his father in farming before he moved to Patna to study hotel management. His father wanted to purchase a tractor for farming, but it was not within their reach because of money. His father wanted him to study well, and get a job so that they can buy a tractor but it never happened. We shall actually be felt glad otherwise we might have missed a great actor like him if he got a tractor he might have been a farmer today. He also worked in the housekeeping department for a brief period of time.
After watching a play called, “Andha Kaun” he is so inspired by the power of acting that he decided to be an actor. He acted in various plays but his parents thought it was not a feasible career option. He joined the National School of Drama (NSD) in Delhi to learn the craft of acting. He read somewhere e that actors like Anupam Kher & Om Puri have learned acting from NSD. Tripathi also tried getting admission into NSD and was selected in his third attempt.
After completing his study at NSD, he came back to perform in theatres in Patna. After a few months, he decided to move to Mumbai. He came to Mumbai with his earnings of ₹46,000 from the theatre, which got over in three months. He was jobless for six years when he used to visit offices in Andheri for an acting job. It was his wife who worked as a teacher to run the house and support him. But since they had limited necessities, their life was peaceful.
He appeared in many movies such as Run, Apahraran, Omkara Agneepath etc but it was Anurag Kashyap’s gangster saga Gangs of Wasseypur that changed his fortune and people started noticing him as a good actor. He further worked in many movies out of which many were big hits like Fukrey, Dabangg 2, Gundey, Dilwale, Pati, Patni aur Woh, Gunjan Saxena, etc. He has been part of the cult classic movie Masaan also. But he became a household name after working in the web series Mirzapur in the role of Kaleen Bahiya, a dreaded gangster. Apart from Mirzapur, he featured in both seasons of the well-known web series Criminal Justice. Today, Pankaj Kapoor is a very famous and sought-after actor and he reached this position with his talents, perseverance, and hard work.
