Whoa! When Pankaj Tripathi opened up about eating insects and changing his surname, “I changed my father’s name too”

MUMBAI: Pankaj Tripathi is a name synonymous with brilliant acting and talent. He has given us critically acclaimed performances in Projects like Gangs of Wasseypur, Mirzapur, Mimi and many more, and continues to mesmerize us. His talent and screen presence is unmatched.

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The actor was born and brought up in Bihar’s Belsand village in Gopalganj district. His father was a priest as well as a farmer, and thus had a humble upbringing. Recalling anecdotes of his younger days, Pankaj said in an interview, “I used to perform stunts on the bicycle because there was a boy who would perform such stunts and he was very popular among girls. I am talking about the time I was in 7th or 8th standard in school. In school at the time, a slow cycle race was organised, so that boy, who was the winner of that race, became very popular among girls. So, I learned the same thing hoping that I would be the winner next year, but I lost, I wasn’t the winner.”

On recalling how he learned swimming, the Stree actor said, “I wanted to learn swimming. We had a river behind our house. The river water has small black insects swimming on top of it. So, the kids in the village, they are very naughty, they told me that if I drink these insects I will learn swimming. So, I picked up 10-12 of those insects and drank them with the water. I am thankful that my stomach didn’t get upset.”

Speaking of changing his name, Pankaj said, “It must be the first time in history that a father got a name from his son. I was filling out the admit card of 10th standard. My uncle would use the surname Tripathi and he had become an officer in the government. There was also one Baba who had Tripathi surname, he became a professor of Hindi. Those who had my surname, Tiwari, they all were either priests or were doing farming. So, I thought this is because of the surname. I didn’t want to become a farmer or a priest. So I wrote my name as Tripathi in the form. But then I thought I can’t write my father’s name as Tiwari in the form as it might get rejected. So I changed his name too.”

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Credit-Indianexpress