Pankaj Tripathi’s upcoming film, Kadak Singh, will see him in a different avatar and he is confident that people will like it. The actor says, “Audiences have always appreciated my experiments.”

With this film, he has tried to “break free form my image” as makers expect him to crack a joke or make a sarcastic comment. “My character in Kadak Singh is that of a serious man who hardly smiles in most parts of the film, which was challenging. While shooting, the artiste in me would slip [and I would] want to crack a joke. I trained myself to not let that trademark style come out,” the 47-year-old shares.

The OMG 2 actor rues that there aren’t a lot of scripts that can knock his socks off. So when he was offered this film, he jumped at it: “Koi aise scripts lekar aayega toh karenge na! Experimental films are offered to me, but there are hardly any that shake me to the core and convince me to do it. But Kadak Singh had everything an actor wants and the screenplay was fantastic.”

Ask if it bothers him that the Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury directorial, which releases on Zee5 won’t get a theatrical release and Tripathi states, “OTT is what made me popular and I feel its reach is greater than that of theatres. Log achcha content kahin se bhi dhoond lete hain.”

The Mirzapur actor, who is all for experimenting with his roles, did face “misfires” a few years ago. “Jo bhi misfires hue, I knew from day one that they (the projects) won’t work. So, mere selection mein kabhi misfire nahin hua hai,” says Tripathi, adding that there were times when he wasn’t even given a script. “I was told about my scenes and part in the film and that’s all. Mujhe zaroorat thi us waqt kaam karne ki, paison ki... toh jaante boojhte bhi [that it won’t work] maine kar liya. But ab aisa nahin hota,” the actor signs off.

Mahesh Ramanathan, producer and CEO, HT Content Studio, says, “I am proud to have collaborated with Pankaj Tripathi, who has raised the bar yet again. He is set to delight and multiply his galloping pan-India fan base. Our national motto is Satyameva Jayate and we couldn’t have chosen anyone better to inspire people to be on the right side of truth, irrespective of the challenges. Aniruddha’s direction and a standout performances by a dream cast need special mention.”