EXCLUSIVE- Stree actor Pankaj Tripathi: Being socially and politically aware helps me with my sense of satire

Director Amar Kaushik's Stree starring Rajkummar Rao, Pankaj Tripathi, Shraddha Kapoor, Apartshakti Khurrana and Abhishek Banerjee is officially a hit. The horror comedy released last Friday (August 31, 2018) and opened to positive reviews across. The film managed to impress the audience, as well as the critics and the same, can be judged by the box office numbers it clocked just over the weekend. Till Sunday (September 3, 2018), Stree has made Rs 32.07 at the BO and is expected to win big.

Stree is the story of a woman named Stree, a witch who abducts men from the Chanderi town during the 4 days of Mahapuja. She only leaves their clothes behind. All the actors have given stupendous performances in this horror comedy. Of all the performances, actor Pankaj Tripathi's character Rudra's gives a knockout performance and has left the audience in splits. The National award winner moulds himself into any given character with ease and conviction. Stree is Panjak's fourth film with Rajkummar and the duo never fails to amaze us with their comic timing and equation on the screen. 

As Rudra, Pankaj Tripathi dialogues like "Sabka Aadhar link hai Stree ke paas" (Everyone's Aadhar is linked to her)  and " Stree mardon ki tarah zabardasti nahi karti" (Stree doesn't force herself like men) which made the audience burst into laughter and also is a rude reality of the current atmosphere we live in, in India. These dialogues stay with you because they have a deep meaning. Pinkvilla got in touch with Pankaj Tripathi and asked him his reaction to Stree's success and how supporting characters are now getting prominence in Hindi films.

Read the interview below:

What do you have to say about Stree's success?

Bohot accha lag raha hai. Humne bohot mehnat ki thi imaandari se, dil se yeh film banayi thi. Aur wo mehnat safal ho rahi hai, log pasand kar rahe hai aur wo box office figure bata raha hai. Accha lag raha hai ke critically aur commercially success mil raha hai. Critics ne bhi taareef ki aur audience ne bhi. (I'm feeling very nice. We had worked hard with honesty and made this film with love. The efforts are getting paid off and people are liking the film and it can be seen in the box office figures. It feels good to see the film getting critical and commercial success. The critics as well as the audience is appreciating it.)

Why made you sign a horror comedy, a genre that's not much explored in Bollywood?

Hum logon ka bharosa script pe tha tabhi toh banaya tha. We all were confident ke hamare paas ek accha product hai. Jab main Rajkummar se mila, Raj ne kahaani sunayi thi fir teeno producers se meeting hui thi. Hum sabka feedback accha hi tha jab humne script padi. (We believed in the script. We all were confident that we have a good product. When I met Rajkummar, he narrated me the story and then I met the three producers. We all had a positive feedback after reading the script.)

You perform any given character remarkably. In Stree, you are effortlessly funny. What's the process you follow before performing every character?

Theatre ke experience hai yeh. Aur inn dino jo directors aur story-tellers hai, hum unpe trust karte hai. Mujhe kaafi choot milti hai. In fact, iss film mein kaafi saari linein maine on the spot boli hai improvise karke. Yeh Amar ka bharosa tha wo mujhpe chod dete the kehte the aapko jaisa karna hai karo. Baaki maine theatre kiya hai,  main padhta hoon aur socially and politically aware hoon. So that's why the humour and sense of satire hai mere paas. (It's the experience of theatre that helps me. Also, the directors and story-tellers nowadays trust us. I get a lot of freedom. In fact, I have improvised a lot of lines in this film. This was Amar's trust in me and he also told me I can do it my way. Rest comes because I've done theatre and I am also socially and politically aware that helps me with my humour and sense of satire.)

Tell us how was the experience working with Rajkummar Rao again?

Rajkummar aur maine 4 films mein kaam kiya hai aur chaaron hit rahi hai. Bohot maza aata hai unke saath. Wo bhi trained actor hai mere jaise toh ek trained logon ke saath filmon ka alag mazaa hai. Hum filmon ke baarikiyon ko samajhte hai. (Rajkummar and I have done 4 films together and all 4 were a hit. I enjoy working with him. He is also a trained actor like me and it's a different kind of fun to work with trained actors. Both of us understand the nuances of films.)

Nowadays, the supporting characters are given equal importance as the lead roles. They are not just added in the film to make the lead actor look like a 'Hero'. What are your thoughts on this change in the film industry?

Filmmaking collective art hai. Sabka effort lagta hai. Yeh ek aadmi ka kaam nahi hai, na hero heroine ka na supporting actors ka. Sabka ek collective efforts hota hai, sabki creativity hoti hai. Aur jab film chalti hai toh sabko uske faayde hi hote hai. (Filmmaking is a collective art and it requires everyone's effort. This is not one person's job; neither the hero nor the heroine. It's done with everyone's collective efforts and creativity. And when the film is a success, it benefits everyone.)