Pankit Thakker has had a successful career of nearly 17 years, and has come a long way from being a 19 years old teenager getting into the groove of acting, to playing an array of varied characters to elan. Presently, Pankit is showcasing his acting skills in Life OK’s popular show, Bahu Humari Rajni_Kant.
Talking about his present show Bahu Humari Rajni_Kant being touted as a huge success story in Indian television, Pankit shared with us his views on how he decides on taking up a show. “I take a long time to say no. I feel bad whenever I have to refuse a show. I avoid the conversation, make excuses to not meet or call the person, and then think about the script a few more times. Accepting an offer is much instinctive; choosing a show is to choose a state of mind that I want to be in. I do shows that make me happy. I don’t understand when actors say they did a show because it was “challenging” or “exciting”. Those are heavy words. I like to be simple — I want to be happy.”
Viewers tend to bracket an actor and visualize him / her in only a particular kind of work. When asked whether the pressure to do only the stuff that audience likes to see him in, affects him, Pankit averred, “I have doled out a lot of different stuff and the audience has always loved me. ‘Special Squad’ may not have been so huge commercially, but it was loved. Ditto with 'India calling' and even 'Kis Din Mera Viyaah Howega'.As a Big Magic show, it didn’t have that big a market, but my audience loved it. In my 17 years in the industry, I have always brought a certain integrity to my work and the audience love that. I do a serial because I need to do it. I’m the happiest while working. We have been working like crazy for Bahu, and I have decided this is the best way to be. I don’t need to know much. I just want to be on the set and act. That’s my job. I am not a warrior; I am only an actor. Just give me the lines and I will act.That’s it.”
Well, actors might not be warriors, but the industry is no less than a minefield. Talking about his inner reserves, Pankit explained, “My inner reserves are I, me and myself. I don’t have any ghostbusters to help me. By now, I know that if I do it right, I’ll get it right or else I’ll try more. You could call it belief or resilience or trial and error or luck or stubbornness. I’m always with myself. I know I was made for this. I have seen enough failures and crisis to know that in the end, everything gets okay.”
So how do you feel when your show does not work? “I enjoy the whole process of making a show. But I am not detached from the result. I feel really bad if my show doesn’t work and at times I do feel depressed.”
As an actor, it is important to know to handle depression. Pankit stated his thoughts on it, “You have got to get a hold on depression till you get un-depressed. Get on and go to work. There is no cure for it. I read a lot of motivational quotes, I even tweet some of it, but quotes don’t help when you are sad. I deal with it by working.”
On his definition of success, Pankit quipped, “For me, success means three things: to be able to pull along with people who work with me to a level that is higher than where they currently are; to be able to do justice to my producers’ vision and to be able to make people, who made me who I am, happy by making sure they like my work.”
On the advice for youngsters aspiring to do well as actors, Pankit told us, “I will tell them to just be themselves. You will find enough people on the way to help you reach where you want to go, but don’t make any plans. I’ll tell you a little story. When I had just come to Mumbai, two-three of us, all young actors, were chatting. One of them said, ‘I don’t want to get typecast.’ I told him, ‘Nobody knows you yet. You need to be cast to be typecast’. The other guy said, ‘I won’t do TV.’ I told him, ‘If you get a great offer, please do it. There is no right or wrong way of achieving successes. 'The best way to act is to act.’
Lastly, he bid adieu saying, “I have always believed that success is temporary. So enjoy it till it lasts. It’s me today; it will be someone elsetomorrow. That’s how this business works. One needs to stay balanced. If you enjoy your work, the rest happens on its own.”
Well said, Pankit!!
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