When Pankaj Tripathi performed item songs, was told by village elder that he can replace ‘heroines’ in Bollywood films

Pankaj Tripathi, in an appearance on No Filter Neha, revealed that he used to play female parts in village plays and even performed item songs.

Pankaj Tripathi has revealed that he used to play female parts in his village plays, and even used to perform item numbers. The actor was sharing his old memories in an appearance on No Filter Neha.

Pankaj Tripathi in a still from Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl.

Opening up about how he’d play female parts during his school days, he said, “I was in the 10th standard when I played a girl for the first time. The boy who used to play a girl had not returned from town, people were wondering that the play won’t happen that year as that boy wasn’t there. It was then that I volunteered to take up the part. But our director -- Raghav chacha told me to take permission from my father, just in case he got angry later and climbed the stage with a lathi. My father didn’t object to me playing a girl and allowed me to do as I wish to.”

Pankaj revealed that this led to him also performing item songs in between plays, even when they weren’t needed. He added, “People loved my dance and would say, ‘he dances so well’.”

He further opened up about how an elderly man in the village advised him to go to Mumbai and said, “If this boy goes to Mumbai, he will oust several top Bollywood actresses.” Pankaj explained that the elderly man was of the opinion that just like the old times, the female characters in Hindi films were not female but male actors in makeup and women’s clothes.

“I knew Mumbai was out of sight for me and I didn’t want to go to Mumbai at that time. I didn’t know I would become an actor, it was just for fun,” he said on the show. Pankaj is now a household name after playing several popular characters in projects such as Sacred Games, Stree, and Mirzapur. He also played memorable roles in films such as Bareilly Ki Barfi, Newton and Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl.

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