Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 9, 2018)

Pankaj Tripathi is like a chameleon, his ‘look’ changes with every film. Right now, he looks every inch a South Indian matinee idol from the ’90s which is what he is playing in the Shakeela biopic.

The film, which went on the floors in early August, features Richa Chadha in the titular role.

“The character isn’t inspired by any one actor but is a combo of many. I was surprised the director, Indrajit Lankesh, could even imagine me for the part. When I had gone to Bangalore for the costume trial, I spotted a rack of fancy and colourful clothes and on enquiring learnt that they belonged to me. I was wondering how I’d carry them off,” Pankaj admits with a laugh.

He adds that he doesn’t usually look at the monitor on the first day of the shoot but made an exception in this case. “I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw myself and started enjoying the role from the second day on. You will see me dancing and doing action scenes with the aura of a superstar. I even have a big car among other perks,” the actor jokes, adding that he’s always enjoyed watching Sanjay Dutt, Govinda, Rishi Kapoor and Anil Kapoor’s films and he borrowed some of their mannerisms and styles while fleshing out most of it from his imagination.

“When Richa saw me in my look, she teased, ‘Pandit ji tum toh badal gaye.’ Our equation in this film is very different from Fukrey. My character is more in the grey space and is very unpredictable,” he says.