From being just another face on screen to now playing pivotal roles — actor Pankaj Tripathi has come a long way. He confesses that earning a name in the industry wasn’t easy. “If today people call me by my characters’ names, I like it. But around seven years ago, I’d feel bad because people didn’t know my name. They would say, ‘Aap actor ho, uss film mein Sultan ka role kiya tha.’ Today, everyone knows my name, but because they love my characters so much, they deliberately address me by my on-screen names,” says the 45-year-old, who recently shot for Fukrey 3.

Considering his fan base has grown over the years, there must have been some memorable fan moments, too. “There’s a fan who plants trees on my birthday every year,” Tripathi shares, as he goes on to recall an incident. “While I was shooting for Fukrey 3 in Delhi, a fan kept shouting for around three hours, exclaiming that he’s a big fan of mine. I couldn’t click a picture with him as I was in my look, but I later got a handwritten note delivered to him,” says the 83 and Mimi (both 2021) actor.

Ask if his fans’ love and expectations ever put pressure on him to deliver consistently and the Mirzapur actor agrees. “Logon ki ummeedein badh gayi hain, uss trust ko bas barkaraar rakh paun [that’s all I want]. People tell me they listen to me and watch my videos on YouTube. Jab itna sammaan milta hai, main emotional ho jaata hoon,” he ends.