Pankaj Tripathi was once a "wanted" man: Here's what had happened

Pankaj Tripathi is one of the most candid people in B-town. He never frets from sharing his opinion and is always more than happy to talk about his struggling days. Tripathi is not an actor who had immediate success in the film industry. He had to work extremely hard to make his way up the ladder and become the name that he is today. He has often looked back at the past and reminisced about all that he had to endure as a struggling actor. Recently, he shared a rather funny incident from his early days as an actor. 

In an interview with Screen (Indian Express), the actor spoke about how there were not too many casting agencies back in the day. Social media too was almost non-existent, and thus, as Tripathi shares, actors had to visit those few casting agencies and drop their pictures personally. He explained that the pictures had to be dropped into specific cardboard boxes, and eventually these would get passed on to casting directors.

He said, "There was no social media and a handful of casting agencies. These casting agencies have increased now. Earlier, we just had to go from door to door, claiming that we are actors. They used to keep a cardboard carton in which everyone can come and put their photos. At the end of the day, the carton is sent to the floor above to the assistant's office. I put my pictures in so many such cartons."

How he ended up on the "wanted" list has a lot to do with these cartons/boxes being moved around. Pankaj revealed that one of his friends was once working on a crime-based TV show, and it was that very friend who had informed the actor of his picture being up on the wanted list at a police station, only that it wasn't a real one.

Pankaj mentioned, "Once, a friend of mine got cast in a crime show somewhere. It was a police station setup. He saw a WANTED board hanging there on the set. My friend called me and said, 'Arey wanted mein teri photo daal di hai (They have given your pic under wanted people).' I said, 'Aise kaise (How)?' I recalled that I had left many of my photos at their office. So, when the art department needed any thief or gangster pictures for the 'Wanted' board, they just used those pictures, so mine was up there once."

Tripathi is one of the most sought-after actors in Bollywood at the moment. He was last seen in Amar Kaushik's 'Stree 2,' where he portrayed the character of Rudra Bhaiya, which has gone on to become an absolute fan favorite.