Pankaj Tripathi, whose next Kaagaz is set in rural India, believes Hindi cinema has failed to present villages authentically on screen
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; June 11, 2020)

With several big projects — including Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl, Ludo and '83 — under his belt, it is surprising when Pankaj Tripathi says that he holds Kaagaz closest to his heart. But the actor has his reasons — he believes that in telling the real-life story of Lal Bihari, the Azamgarh-based farmer who was declared dead on paper, the Satish Kaushik-directed film wonderfully captures the earthiness of rural India. While Bollywood films have discovered the charm of small-town stories in the recent years, Tripathi says that the industry has yet to wake up to its rural counterpart.

"There's a large part of India, and a beautiful one at that, which remains unexplored on the big screen. There needs to be a better depiction of rural India; it needs to go beyond the caricaturish portrayals for comic relief. There are many underdog stories of relentless work and perseverance waiting to be told," argues the actor.

He is proud that Salman Khan recognised the merit of the narrative and agreed to back it. "Kaagaz was a journey that took me back to my time in Gopalganj [his village]. I hope the film will mark the beginning of many such stories," he adds.