‘Life has taught me a lot’: Pankaj Tripathi explains his choices in films and life

Pankaj Tripathi has talked about his struggling days and said he used to wander around Andheri looking for work, but got nothing for six years. In a new interview, the actor also said that he did not earn anything in those years, and that his wife took care of expenses.

Talking about his struggling days, Pankaj Tripathi told a Hindi daily, "To be honest, I did not earn anything between 2004 and 2010. She (his wife Mridula) bore the burden of all expenses involved in the upkeep of our household. I used to roam around in Andheri and urge people 'koi acting karwa lo, koi acting karwa lo (someone please give me an acting job)'. But no one listened to me at the time. Now, when I go home, I find movies being offered in my parking lot."

"I find directors in my parking lot, asking me 'Where are you? I want to do a film with you, please sit for a narration'. Earlier, I struggled but found no jobs even when I searched for them in Andheri, but now there are queues of movies being offered right in my parking lot. During those struggling days, Mridula used to take care of all the expenses, from the house rent to other basic needs," he further said in Hindi.

Pankaj Tripathi is currently seen alongside Kriti Sanon in Netflix film, Mimi. The release date of the comedy-drama was changed at the last moment, and it was released on Monday evening, hours after it was leaked online.

When asked the actor how a comedy film with a message can impact the audience. Tripathi stated that watching a comedy film is like meditating.

"I feel when you are saying something through humour or comedy, the impact is larger and successful because it is like meditation. The purpose of meditation is to lose oneself in nothingness. To bring ourselves in a state where we have no thoughts. And for any human, it is difficult to come into such a zone because every one of us is a thinking individual. We have multiple thoughts going on in our minds. When you meditate for a year, you can zero down to only maybe two moments when you could put yourself in the zone of nothing. In comedy, when you watch the film (or series) and laugh out loud, for those 10 seconds, your brain has no other thought but happiness. No EMI pressure, no career issues and no complexities of any sort. In a comedy film, if we can give 10 such laughter moments, we are giving the audience 10 meditative moments. That elevates the message of the film," he expressed with a disclaimer saying, "this is my logic."

Mimi, a Hindi remake of Samroudhhi Porey's National award-winning Marathi film,Mala Aai Vhhaychy! (2011), has been directed by Laxman Utekar and also features Manoj Pahwa, Sai Tamhankar and Supriya Pathak