Pankaj Tripathi played Atma Singh, a CRPF officer in Amit V Masurkar directorial Newton.
When Pankaj Tripathi found out that he won a Special Mention for Newton at the 65th National Film Awards, he was quite surprised. Stating that he was absolutely not aware that he was even in the running for the biggest film awards in India, the actor exclusively shared his feelings with indianexpress.com.
Tripathi, who was part of films like Newton, Bairelly Ki Barfi, Anaarkali of Aarah, Kaalakaandi, Fukrey Returns, Munna Michael, Coffee with D and Gurgaon in 2017, says he has finally received his big award. Sharing how it was actor Saurabh Shukla who broke the news to him, Tripathi said, “It was a big surprise for me too. I got to know about it after half an hour. I had left my phone in the room and was having breakfast in my hotel. Then, Saurabh Shukla came and told me that I got a National Award. I asked him ‘how do you know?’ He said, news has come and he came looking for me. By that time my phone had 100 missed calls.”
Pankaj Tripathi played a paramilitary officer in Newton, which also starred Rajkummar Rao. The movie, based on the electoral system of India, has also won the National Award for Best Hindi Film.
बेहद विनम्र और ख़ुश pic.twitter.com/y1nvYXSIna
— Pankaj Tripathi (@TripathiiPankaj) April 13, 2018
Speaking about how the big win is actually his childhood dream come true, Tripathi shared his feelings. “Twenty years back, a kid from a village had dreamt about winning an award for acting, and that dream has come true today. It is dedicated to the kids who come from villages and rural areas who dare to dream even without having the required infrastructure and luxuries,” he said.
Also read | 65th National Film Awards: Full winners list
When we asked him whether 2017 can be called his year, he signed off saying, “It was not my year but a year of my hard work, which has paid.”
Pankaj Tripathi, who is currently shooting in Lucknow, will be seen in Kaala and Drive this year. He is also a part of Abhi Toh Party Shuru Hui Hai.