Pankaj Tripathi may have built a career playing characters rooted in everyday life, but he is now looking for unfamiliar territory. From wanting to play a brutal villain to returning to theatre after over a decade and producing stories that reflect his worldview, the actor is embracing a new phase in his career.

After turning producer last year with eight-episode dramedy Perfect Family, the actor says he’s taking his time to find stories that resonate with him rather than chasing scale or spectacle. He shares, “I’m meeting people and listening to stories. I want to make films based on my taste in storytelling and I’ll do that soon. I don’t like larger-than-life stories because I see humans as humans. I enjoy superhero stories, but they belong in mythology or fantasy. In real life, there are no superheroes — every human is a superhero. Every middle-class parent is a superhero. Those are the kind of relatable stories that attract me.”

After years of playing relatable, slice-of-life characters, Tripathi says he’s ready to switch gears. He now wants to explore fantasy, comedy and play a truly menacing villain.

He says, “I feel that I have done too much of realistic cinema. Now I want to do fantasy and comedy. It’s been too many years since I played a villain. I even called Amar Kaushik (Stree, Bala, Bhediya) and told him, ‘If you have a script like that, give me a brutal villain’s role.’ I want to play a deadly villain. Bohot ho gaya playing slice-of-life characters. For me, Sultan from Gangs Of Wasseypur is still my favourite villain. While growing up, I loved watching Amrish Puri.”

Pankaj, who recently went back to theatre after 12-13 years with the play Lailaaj, believes it offers something screens increasingly cannot. He says, “Our work appears on screens and when we do Reels, we are on screens. I don’t like video interviews because you’re seen on screen again. Real experience is important — like a print interview. You’re just holding a piece of paper and reading it. Joh printed hai utna hi content hai.”

Pankaj’s return to theatre was also driven by a desire to experience storytelling without the distractions of the digital world.

The Mimi actor says, “I wanted to go back to theatre because the live experience is something you simply can’t replicate elsewhere. When you read digitally, ek ke upar ek pop-up hoga... janjal hai internet ka. It’s a constant distraction. Ninety per cent of people pick up their phone to do one thing and end up doing something else. I wanted that direct connection between performers and the audience that only a live performance can create.”

So much of our lives passes by in front of a screen. Work, education, entertainment — it’s all happening through screens. For Pankaj Tripathi, that just won’t do. The actor wants us to put our phones down and go back to the oldest form of storytelling — theatre. 

In November 2025, Tripathi founded the theatre company, Roopkatha Rangmanch, with his wife Mridula Tripathi. Their first production, Lailaaj, premièred in 2025, marking the actor’s return to the stage after a 12-year hiatus. Since then, Lailaaj has attracted a wide range of viewers; some arriving because they have admired his films, others because they are theatre enthusiasts. Either way, Tripathi is happy that Mumbai is giving theatre a thought.

“Many people come because they know me from films. For some, this is their first theatre experience. Afterwards, they tell me they never imagined theatre could be like this. People sometimes assume serious theatre must be difficult to understand,” he told mid-day.

One of the biggest battles has been fighting the perception that theatre is expensive. To address that, Tripathi insisted on keeping a significant number of tickets priced as low as Rs 200 for every performance.

“People told me it wouldn’t work because theatre productions are expensive. But I said that we are not doing theatre for profit. We are doing it to give back to theatre, and build a new audience.”

The gamble has paid off. “Those Rs. 200 tickets sell out first every single time,” he smiled. 

According to the actor, such gestures help remove invisible barriers. Give it time and it may even make theatre a habit for Mumbaiites. “Keep the expensive seats if you want, but don’t make theatre exclusive. Let young people come. Once they experience live performance, they will come back,” he promised.

A glimpse of this was seen recently when videos surfaced online of audiences braving Mumbai’s heavy rains to watch Lailaaj. He beamed, “People forgot that there was another world outside the auditorium. Inside, they were simply enjoying themselves.”

The project has also become a family affair. Tripathi’s daughter, Aashi, has become an active part of Roopkatha Rangmanch. “She wanted to attend a theatre workshop and gradually became involved. Lailaaj is her second play with our group,” said the proud father.

Lailaaj was followed by The Just, a play set in pre-Independence India. As both plays travelled across the country, the theatre company established an unusual practice of double-casting actors. The reason? “If any actor gets a film or TV project, they shouldn’t have to leave that opportunity because of a theatre commitment. We have two actors for every role, so no one’s journey stops,” explained Tripathi.

A thoughtful move that summarises why Tripathi started Roopkatha Rangmanch in the first place. “When I came to Mumbai nearly 25 years ago, I was looking for opportunities. Today, there are countless actors arriving in the city with the same dream. We wanted to create a platform for them,” he shared.

The theatre company was also his way of doing his bit for the medium that shaped him as an artiste. “Theatre has contributed immensely to my life. I learnt acting there, I learnt humanity there. My entire journey began on stage before cinema gave me fame and financial stability. Somewhere, I always felt I had to give back to the medium.”