Happy B’day Pankaj Tripathi: From growing up as a farmer to playing a lead in Bollywood movie!

Pankaj Tripathi has established himself as one of the most versatile and dynamic actors in the film industry today. It has taken him years to get that recognition but finally, it seems that Pankaj Tripathi is enjoying the star actor status on both Bollywood and OTT that he certainly deserves.

As he turns a year older today, here are some interesting facts about the great actor.

Pankaj grew up as a farmer

From a young age, the actor used to work with his father on the farm and assisted him in agriculture till he passed out 12th standard. His village lacked the basic amenities like a proper school and electricity and hence till 5th standard he studied under a tree. It shows that Pankaj Tripathi was exposed to hard work from a very young age.

Imprisoned during college days

During his graduation days, Pankaj was actively involved in college politics. He was imprisoned in 1993 for voicing his opinion against the then State Government. After graduation, he completed his post-graduation in hotel management and even worked as a chef in a hotel in Patna as a cook for 2 years. After that, he left Patna to pursue an acting course at Delhi’s National School of Drama.

From minor roles to lead role

In Bollywood, he started with minor roles in movies like Lukka Chuppi, Newton, Gangs of Wasseypur, and Masaan. On the web, he worked in serials like Criminal Justice and Sacred Games. It was his role in Mirzapur that made him a big OTT star. His recent release OMG 2 crossed 100 crore business despite a tough challenge from Gadar 2.

Initially struggled with Hindi

Since Pankaj Tripathi was born and brought up in Bihar, his native languages are Bihari and Bhojpuri which are similar to Hindi in many aspects. However, even then the actor initially struggled to speak Hindi properly and polished it up only after coming to Delhi.

.@TripathiiPankaj talks about how the young generation is getting caught up in the world of selfies and how the best app is our brain in this panel discussion 'Main Atal Hoon' at Arth - A Culture Fest 2023. pic.twitter.com/c234BSZtu6

— Arth - A Culture Fest (@arth_live) March 18, 2023

Manoj Bajpayee is his inspiration

While it took him a long time to decide that he wanted to become an actor, he started acting when he was a young boy and many times used to play the role of a girl in the plays performed in the village. For him, Manoj Bajpayee has always been a big inspiration as both of them come from the same state, and their native villages are also located close by.