Pankaj Tripathi Once Revealed He Was Roped In For Lakshya But His Scenes Didn’t Make To The Final Cut(Photo Credit–Poster From Lakshya/Instagram)
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Pankaj Tripathi who comes from a small village in Bihar has now gained massive recognition. Although he has done some minor roles in prominent Bollywood films, he came into the limelight after Gangs of Wasseypur. A few years back, the actor spoke about his role in Lakshya but revealed he was edited out from the final cut. During the interaction, the actor shared why he felt embarrassed when he watched the film in the theatre with his family in his village.
The 2004 flick which was based on the 1999 Kargil War was directed by Farhan Akhtar. The film starred Hrithik Roshan in the lead, along with Preity Zinta, and Amitabh Bachchan in lead roles with Boman Irani and Anjula Bedi in supporting roles.
In a 2019 interview with the Indian Express, Pankaj Tripathi shared his experience of working with Hrithik Roshan in Lakshya and shared an interesting story about the same. He said, “I was cast for the role of a character named Subedar Kuldeep Singh. I visited Leh-Ladakh for the first time during its shooting only. Before the release of the film, I was in Patna.”
Pankaj Tripathi added, “While talking to one of my media friends there, I randomly mentioned that I am a part of it. He got excited and asked more details. I told him about my role and about my scenes with Hrithik (Roshan). Next day news was out in the Hindustan newspaper in Patna with the headline ‘Lakshya mein dikhega Bihar ka laal’ along with a small picture of mine.”
He continued, “Then I went to watch Lakshya at Ashok cinema hall there along with my wife. The entire film got over and I was nowhere to be seen. My agony doubled, not because I have been edited out, but because this news had already been published in the newspaper. I was so tensed up. If the news wasn’t out, I wouldn’t have felt so much pressure. I thought now whoever will read it will take me as a liar, since I work in a medium which has lie as its base – we have fake son, fake mother, fake relationships, fake stories… But I try my best to make it look real.”
After Lakshya, Pankaj Tripathi shared the screen with Hrithik Roshan in Super 30 and Agneepath. Speaking about the same, the actor said, “I never asked Farhan Akhtar about it. While working on Super 30, Hrithik and I did have a small chat on it. Hrithik asked me whether Super 30 was our second film or the third one. He only remembered Agneepath. I reminded him of Lakshya too.”
