Pramod Pathak: I’ll shoot in my Kanpur from next month

UPite Pramod Pathak’s role of JP Yadav in both seasons of ‘Mirzapur’ and Tripurari in ‘Raktanchal’ gave him what his 25-year-long career could not.

“Rustic and realistic content is being made which is helping actors like us to fit in the big framework. I am getting challenging roles and the good part is that makers now have trust in me. Moreover, I get work satisfaction while name and fame are add-ons,” says the ‘Raees’ actor.

Digital platform gave him the best phase of his career. “OTT gives immense scope and time to character artistes and the medium looks beyond the lead cast in terms of writing and direction. New actors are being discovered because everyone has scope to perform.”

Hailing from Lambhua tehsil near Sultanpur, Pramod completed his schooling from Nainital and thereafter did graduation from Kanpur before shifting to Mumbai for a job.

“Side-by-side I was doing theatre which soon became full-time passion. For survival I was helping people backstage and assisted in writing, lights, direction and so on. When you are untrained the route is much longer but it pays. For 12 years, I only did theatre and then slowly started doing small roles on screen.”

Remembering his blink and you miss it stints, Pramod said, “I did a small role in the show ‘Saturday Night Suspense’. I shot for Ajay Devgn-starrer ‘Legends of Bhagat Singh’ for 45 days but my screen time was barely 10 seconds. But, I kept working and learning. ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’, where I played two characters Sultana Daku and Badur Qureshi, got me noticed. It was followed by TV show ‘Crime Petrol’ and films like ‘City Lights’, ‘Raees’, ‘Talvar’ and ‘Raazi’.”

Having shot for ‘Mirzapur’ and ‘Raktanchal’ in Varanasi and Lucknow he is excited to shoot for his upcoming series ‘Taav’ in Kanpur from next month. “I will back in the city where i spent 12 years. I have shot for Shubhash Kapoor’s political drama ‘Maharani’ with Huma Qureshi and Amit Sial in Bhopal and now we are wrapping the Mumbai-leg. Then there are other projects as well.”