Pankaj Tripathi: Acting is oxygen, if you don’t do it you’ll die

The actor’s visit was scheduled as part of the ongoing festival of plays, Bharat Rang Mahotsav, and made him reminisce his days as a student of theatre. “NSD mein sikhaya tha ki abhinay oxygen hai, nahi karoge toh marr jaoge,” recalls the 46-year-old actor, reminiscing the classes and lectures by his dramatics’ teachers: “Radha ma’am ki props class mein wo bola karti thi ki jab tak wo (prop) bolega nahi, tum chuoge nahi. Aur hum second year ke students confused rehte the ki glass kaise bolega ki humein uthaa lo, ab iss baat ko samjhne mein humein 20 saal lage. Ab main samajh gaya ki prop bolta hai, ki kaise mera istemaal karo, mujhe chhuo ya naa chhuo ya kaise meri handling karo. Toh wahi hai ki kayi saari cheezein hum chor dete hai sunne mein, padhne mein, ab bohat saari classes miss karta hun main.”

He went on to narrate an incident where late actor Irrfan shared with him, how he approached the answer of what is acting. “Irrfan ne kaha, ek baar kisi ke ghar woh gaye the aur unhone pucha ki acting kya hai, toh unka jawaab bhi yahi tha ki kya batau ki acting kya hai. Table par glass rakha tha paani ka, wo uthaaye aur paani pee liye, glass rakhe aur bole aise hota hai acting. Abhinay bahut asaan kaam hai, aur abhinay bohat mushkil kaam hai. Abhinay ko karne ke liye pure sansaar ko samjhna padta hai, abhinay ko karne ke liye swayam ko samjhna padta hai.”

Tripathi had initially skipped answering the first question about ‘what is acting’. Later, he shared the reason: “Main pehle isliye bhavuk ho raha tha kyonki mere do-char teacher baithe hai yahan.”

Overwhelmed with emotions

His emotions were at the peak as he breathed in the same air after years of graduating from the institute. And having experienced the best of both the worlds, onstage and onscreen, over the years, he shared about his learnings from cinema and theatre. “Asaan dono hi nahi hai, chunauti-poorna rangmanch zyada hai, aur wahan mazaa bhi zyada hai. Cinema ko audience ne kaise receive kiya yeh 8 mahine baad pata chalta hai, theatre mein hum kar rahe hai aur humein sab maaloom chal raha hai,” he says.

‘Hum thode udhand baalak the’

While looking back at his days in Delhi, Pankaj adds, “Uss waqt hum thode udhand baalak the, kayi baar suspend hote-hote bache. Uss samay kitni kamaal ki cheezein sikhaayi jaa rahi thi aur hum nahi padh rahe the.”

When asked about what he used to do during his breaks at NSD, he gladly spoke about his love for Delhi’s Connaught Place (CP). “Palika Bazar se winter ke saare kapde laya karte the, Janpath se bhi, aur jahan jahan saste mein sab kuchh mil jaya karta tha. Chawri Bazaar jaate the khane, peene aur ghumne. ITO ke paranthe, Liberty Cinema par picture. CP paas tha toh alag hi lagaav tha usse.”

‘1997 mein tehelka mach gaya ki NSD mein paanch log gaye hai Bihar se’

He recalls his friend, Asif Ali Haider Khan, who showed him the way to NSD. He recounts, “1997 mein ye NSD aaye they aur maine first year mein theatre 95 mein shuru kiya tha Patna (Bihar) mein. 1997 mein panch log aaye the Patna se NSD aur ye panch log hue aur Patna mein tehelka mach gaya ki NSD mein paanch log gaye hai iss baar. Toh humein laga hum bhi kar sakte hai, kyonki acting school mein jaane ke liye itne paise nahi the. Wo senior aaye the wahan se, toh laga ki bina paise ke agar kahin acting seekhni hai toh wo hai National School of Drama, par uski taiyaari karni padegi. Aur Patna ek aisa shehar hai ki uski taiyaari karne ke liye 3-4 teacher hai, jo yahan aake kya jawaab dene hai, kaise daakheela lena hai, kya karna hai sab sikha dete the.”

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