EXCLUSIVE Interview of Pankaj Tripathi for 'Kadak Singh': 'I owe my success in cinema to OTT'

In an interview with Firstpost, the brilliant craftsman of Indian cinema talks about his role in Kadak Singh, cinema changing and how OTT has helped actors get a chance in the entertainment industry.  The story of Kadak Singh is about one of the sharpest and finest officers of the Department of Financial Crimes (DFC), A.K. Srivastava (Pankaj Tripathi).  Here Pankaj Tripathi is shown as a  workaholic who does his job with honesty, but somewhere down the line he neglects his family. After a suicide attempt he gets admitted in the hospital for retrograde amnesia… from here the film starts.

Edited excerpts from the interview:

What was the preparation for the role you essay in the film, Kadak Singh?

I didn’t really have to prepare much if one sees the writing of the script. I am a trained actor, so I knew how to control my elements. I’m constantly working on the craft of my acting so it was easy. This is the kind of a film where actors have to follow the map and the name of the map is the script.

How similar are you and the character that you have essayed in the film?

With each character, I think about what would happen if I were like this. I make a history out of my characters and put myself in it.

What is your take on cinema changing and the way the digital platform has paved the way for it?

Sometimes, when something that reeks of dung works, we assume audiences want to have more of it. There was a time when we used to have an item song in every film because it was working.

With the advent of OTT, how has your craft evolved and choice of roles changed.

Whatever my journey has been wouldn’t have existed if there was no OTT. It has given a platform to a lot of actors like me. Diverse content is available for the viewers right on their finger tips. You make me contest elections and my polling booth is in the city, how will my supporter come all the way from a village to cast his vote? I remember my film Gurgaon released in 70 theaters, even if someone wants to, he cannot travel to Andheri from a small town to watch it.

What was your most challenging part for this film?

To decide where this character was acting and where he was not. This is a man who has forgotten everything and I’m trying to remember my lines, trying to make sure I forget, and you have to be truthful to that. Your eyes should be able to convey that, and the camera in front of you should be able to gaze into your soul. I can say my dialogue ‘I love you’ but if my eyes are not able to convey those emotions of love, the audiences will be able to see that.

I could see more love in your eyes for the nurse than the other lady. What’s the reason for that?

This was because the nurse has been with my character and taken care of me, He took care of me when I was in a pitiable condition. The three encounters that we have in a café, we both are sitting at different tables, it’s only during our fourth encounter we sit together. He’s a little shy and controlled, it’s only after he starts talking to her he becomes flamboyant.

WATCH the trailer of Kadak Singh here: