Pankaj Tripathi recalls being scolded by director for adding humour to his roles, wants innocence in real life: ‘We should practise being innocent for 5 minutes every day'

Indian Express

28-05-2025

Pankaj Tripathi is the modern-day phenomenon of what Ryan Reynolds once described as 'subscription to a personality.' Among a sea of actors transforming themselves with each and every role, there remains a common thread in Tripathi's performances: a dose of common-man humour. As he reprises his popular role of lawyer Madhav Mishra in Criminal Justice: A Family Matter, the fourth instalment in the crime thriller series, Tripathi chats with SCREEN about the impact of the Indian adaptation, and why he believes in injecting humour and innocence into all his characters.
Criminal Justice is closely competing with Mirzapur to be your longest-running show yet. Do you remember when you were first approached for the show?
Sridhar Raghavan, who wrote season 1, had come and narrated me the first few episodes. I said, 'Ye toh kamaal hai!' Then he revealed it's an official adaptation of a British show. Then I said, 'Phir rehne do.' So he reasoned that it's not a copy, but an adaptation within the Indian judicial system. So then I didn't watch the original show because once I do, I feel that experience is already complete.
Isn't it rare that the Indian adaptation has outlasted the original from the West?
Just the day before, I was watching the season 4 trailer in a cab in London. Then I started playing a motivational video on YouTube right after. The driver thought it's part of the trailer and said, 'Nice quote.' He thought I was speaking that dialogue in the show. He was from South Africa. He asked me what I do for a living, I said I'm an actor. So then he said, 'I'm also a photographer, at BBC.' I told him the show's trailer I was watching is Criminal Justice, and it's by BBC India. I told him how there are only two seasons in the UK, whereas we're coming up with the fourth one in India!
Speaking of your dialogues, there's one in the trailer in which you say, 'Ye naha-dho ke, shampoo kar ke aapke peechhe padi hain.' How do you inject humour in the gravest of situations?
I do that with almost every character. In India, we primarily watch films and shows for entertainment. There's already so much stress and burden in everyone's life anyway. If you make them smile before making an important point, then they'll listen to you. Humour is crucial to engagement. And the humour should not be forced, it should be either slice-of-life or satirical. Humour can exist in the gravest of situations, without going overboard.
Where did this approach come from in your acting arsenal?
I used to do that in theatre. But I was an amateur actor then, so the director scolded me a couple of times, asking why I'm doing buffoonery in the background. Then I realised you can't throw comedy into any and every grave scene. When I moved to Mumbai, I started getting negative roles mostly. So the humour took a backseat. Then, it gradually came back to the fore.
The humour also lends itself quite organically to Madhav Mishra, right?
Madhav Mishra has been an underdog since season 1. He has eczema, and is fighting for survival. When you come from that section of society, then there's a humour intact. He needs to survive, but also have fun at that. For instance, there's a scene in which he's supposed to rush into the court for a bail hearing. I asked director Rohan Sippy to make a junior artist stand next to me. As I enter, I hold his hand and take him along. He asks, 'Kya chahiye?' I say, 'Confidence.' When the judge asks him something, he just laughs. He has nothing else to say.
The audience also roots for Madhav Mishra because of his innocence. Along with humour, that's also a motif in all your characters. Why is that important?
I want that innocence in my life as well, and not just in characters. We've all become so corrupt, there's so much burden. I feel we need to practise being innocent. Like how we meditate for five minutes, we should do an exercise of being innocent for five minutes. Kids have so much joy in their lives! As we grow up, the innoncence goes away, and saza mazza ban jati hai. Even if there are mistakes or humour in innocence, that gives a different kind of happiness.
Also Read — Pankaj Tripathi doesn't think he is the 'right person' to replace Paresh Rawal in Hera Pheri 3: 'I am nothing in front of him'
Ryan Reynolds called this common thread across performances 'a subscription to personality.' Do you feel that's what your appeal is as an actor?
But it also has a trap. After a few days, you get stuck in that trademark. You just keep delivering what the audience expects. Then I realized later that I have to protect myself as well. Because when I wish to experiment, and the audience doesn't find the trademark style in that, they'd be disappointed. So acting is a very fragile job. Choohe ko nahi pata hota ki wo trap mein fasne ja raha hai. Life is like that: you feel like you're going in to achieve something only to realize you're inside a trap.
Criminal Justice: A Family Matter premieres on Jio Hotstar on May 29.