In a recent interview, actor Pankaj Jha appeared to take a subtle jab at his fellow actor Pankaj Tripathi. He suggested that some actors in the industry tend to overemphasise their hardships to garner attention. The comments came during an interview with Lallantop Cinema, where Jha also revealed that he was originally considered for a role in Anurag Kashyap’s critically acclaimed film Gangs of Wasseypur.
Pankaj Jha claims he was first choice for Sultan in Gangs of Wasseypur; takes dig at Pankaj Tripathi for glamorising struggle: “If you’ve chosen to follow your passion, you should enjoy it”
Jha critiqued the tendency of some actors to romanticise their struggles, stating, “I don’t like the word ‘struggle’. If you’ve chosen to follow your passion, you should enjoy it, shouldn’t you? And as we’ve seen often in the industry, people like to glamourise their struggles. Some people say they sold potatoes, others say they lived in a tiny house, some say they stole another actor’s slippers. I feel every situation is a learning experience.”
This remark seemed to reference the well-known anecdote involving Pankaj Tripathi, who once confessed to stealing a slipper belonging to Manoj Bajpayee as a keepsake. Tripathi, who was then working at a hotel where Bajpayee was a guest, later recounted the story to Bajpayee during the making of Gangs of Wasseypur.
Expanding on his own experiences, Pankaj Jha disclosed that he was in contention for the role of Sultan in Gangs of Wasseypur, a part that eventually went to Tripathi. Jha blamed a fallout with casting director Mukesh Chhabra for missing out on the role. “I was going to do Wasseypur, and I got a call from MC. I was in Patna, so I returned after a couple of days. By then, he’d got someone else to do the character I was supposed to play… It was the role of Sultan. I asked him why, but… After that, I didn’t get a call from that production house.”
Jha also highlighted another challenge in the film industry—managing relationships with directors and their egos. “These people have complexes, they have huge egos. They get upset if you don’t greet them, or if you voice your opinions. They get so upset that they refuse to work with you again, and they tell their friends to not work with you either. It’s happened to me,” he shared.
Speaking of the professional front, Pankaj Jha is currently awaiting the release of the third season of Panchayat, an Amazon Prime Video series.
Also Read: Pankaj Tripathi to return as Madhav Mishra in season 4 of Criminal Justice, see announcement
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