Panchayat's Pankaj Jha says Bollywood took too long to recognise Irrfan Khan: ‘We should question the industry’

Pankaj Jha recently starred in Panchayat season 3 as MLA Chandrakishore Singh. The actor has also appeared in films such as Black Friday and Gulaal.

Pankaj Jha has portrayed a wide range of characters in films, television, and web shows. In a recent interview with The Indian Express, the actor criticised Bollywood for being too late in recognising Irrfan Khan's talent. (Also read: Anurag Kashyap responds to Pankaj Jha's ‘spineless’ remark for replacing him with Pankaj Tripathi in Gangs of Wasseypur)

Pankaj Jha says Irrfan was only real actor in industry

Pankaj Jha has said that industry did not give due recognition to Irrfan Khan's talent.

Pankaj, while praising Irrfan's acting opined, “I believe actors should refrain themselves from watching films. What happens is they start to mimic it. Today, I feel every actor is mimicking someone. There was only one actor in the industry who was real, that was Irrfan Khan. He has set a benchmark for actors and everybody is trying to reach that benchmark but it is not easy to reach.” He further said, “We should question the industry why it takes them so much time to recognise true talents like Irrfan Khan.”

When Pankaj Jha spoke against glamourising struggle

Previously, in an interview with Lallantop Cinema, Pankaj had accused Pankaj Tripathi of glamourising ‘struggle.’ The Panchayat actor stated, “I don’t like the word ‘struggle’. If you’ve chosen to follow your passion, you should enjoy it, shouldn’t you? And as we’ve seen often in the industry, people like to glamourise their struggles. Some people say they sold potatoes, others say they lived in a tiny house, some say they stole another actor’s slippers. I feel every situation is a learning experience.”

Pankaj Jha's acting career

Panchayat season 3 is available for streaming on Prime Video India.