Pankaj Tripathi knows he was never thought of as traditional hero material, but he is also aware that he is considered a good actor. "I was never thought of as hero material. I am an actor, and I am considered a good one at that," said Tripathi, adding that his latest film, the digitally-dropped "Kaagaz" gave him a character that amalgamated the idea of heroism with the notion of stardom.
"What the film does is it converges the ideas of heroism and the existent star system of the industry," he explained.
"Kaagaz" is based on a true story and casts Tripathi as a man who is officially declared dead, and must wage his war with a corrupt system to prove that he is still alive.
He considers the film a personal achievement because it challenges the conventional idea of the hero.
"The film's idea redefines the heroism of Hindi Films. This is an underdog story, the story of a man who fights the system. It is presented by a leading superstar (Salman Khan), too. But the film puts the spotlight on a common man and his predicament. It reaches people on a one-on-one level," said Tripathi.
He is happy that actor-filmmaker Satish Kaushik "thought of giving an actor like me the chance to shoulder a film single-handedly".
"It's easy to shove us into character parts but here's a film that thought me worthy of pulling through a project all on my own. That itself is a gamechanging move and I hope this film gives more producers the faith to follow suit," he said.
