Mirzapur star Kaleen Bhaiya speaks on whether box office setbacks depress him; Says ‘I've always returned money...'

MUMBAI: Pankaj Tripathi is back as Kaleen Bhaiya in the third season of the adored web series Mirzapur on Amazon Prime. The National Award-winning actor revealed why he accepted to play the now-iconic role of Kaleen Bhaiya when he was initially approached in 2018 and why he isn't bothered by box office results in an exclusive interview with the popular news portal.

Regarding the role, Pankaj Tripathi clarified that Kaleen Bhaiya is not like the traditional dons typically shown on the screen. “He’s not hungry for power or aggressive,” Tripathi said. “If you set aside his profession, he’s actually a very decent guy. I have made him relatable to the audience.” He said he saw the role as a chance to show that a don can be far different from the stereotypes that have been established over the years in popular culture.

(Also read: Really!Sonam Kapoor once talked about her advantage of being good-looking, netizens says “when did she become eligible to judge acting?”)

“If you notice, you will see that Kaleen Bhaiya is actually quite graceful. I’ve made the character that way. He talks to everyone with a lot of respect, except his wife. Par wahi toh charitra hai na samaaj ka (isn’t that the reality of society?)” he added.

Tripathi is also known for his relatable personality both on and off the screen. Opening up about this, he said, “In films, we are just actors. But in real life, we are both the actor and the director. If we misdirect, we will become someone else. Relatability is extremely important to connect an actor with the audience, but it has to be organic and that’s where craft comes into play.”

To drive home the point, he recalled an incident from Hindu College in Delhi, where he had gone for a cultural event. He said, “There was this girl who spoke to me and said, ‘Aap aise lagte ho ke mere chacha ho.’ I smiled and said, ‘Main toh tumse pehli baar mil raha hoon aaj. Phir chacha kaise lagta hoon? (We have just met today. How do I seem like your uncle?)’ But I realized it’s through my characters that are extremely relatable.”

Additionally, he mentioned how crucial it is for that relatability to have a little bit of uniqueness. He went on to say, “If people think they have seen such a relatable character around themselves and deem it boring, they will not be interested in seeing them on the big screen. Log sochenge aise toh bahut dekhe hain jeevan mein, isi ko parde pe kya dekhna?”

The biopic of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Main Atal Hoon, starring Pankaj Tripathi, was a box office failure. In response to the question of whether box office setbacks depress him, he stated, without naming any specific movie, “Not at all. If I know that I’ve given my 100 percent during the shoot and stayed true to my craft, why should I feel bad about it? I understand the box office business. Fortunately, all the films I have done, whether or not they were box office successes, have managed to return money to the producers. I know the math.”

Pankaj Tripathi will next star in Stree 2.

(Also read: Really!Sonam Kapoor once talked about her advantage of being good-looking, netizens says “when did she become eligible to judge acting?”)

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Credits – News 18