Pankaj Tripathi will next be seen playing the role of late three-time Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee in his upcoming film Main Atal Hoon. The film will be all about Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s contributions to the country. In his recent biographical film Main Atal Hoon, Pankaj Tripathi said, he initially feared a lot when he was asked to do the role of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Rajat Sharma: Atal Ji was the country’s hero. You may have done a lot of preparations for playing his role.
Pankaj Tripathi: Yes, initially, I feared a lot.
Rajat Sharma: Did you ever meet Atal Bihar Vajpayee?
Pankaj Tripathi: It was an interesting incident. 26-27 years ago, at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan. I attended the rally of my dear leader and orator. I took my cycle, tied it with a chain to an iron railing, and entered the crowd of several lakh people. I wanted to watch Atal Ji from close. I struggled hard, and I could watch him from 300-400 meters away. I watched Atal Ji speaking from a 400-meter distance, in a wide-angle frame, as they say in cinema. I could watch the entire dais, with Shatrughan Sinha standing… In the film, my director Ravi Jadhav used to address me as Atal Ji. While shooting the rally, he used to say, bring Atal Ji extremely close. When Jadhav used to say ‘extreme close’, I used to remember “extreme wide angle”. So you see, in life, sometimes extremely wide becomes extremely close, if you walk on your path.
Rajat Sharma: When Atal Bihar Vajpayee came to Aap Ki Adalat, I told him there was a contradiction in your name. He replied, my parents named me right. I am Atal and I am also Bihari. Hope we will see the same thing in your character.
Pankaj Tripathi: Well, all of us tried our best. You will surely find that.
Rajat Sharma: Atal Ji used to be soft when required, and hard when required. He was soft and hard towards Pakistan too. Did your character reflect this in the movie?
Pankaj Tripathi: Yes, we showed it. The Lahore bus trip was shown as his softness for friendly relations, and he also made hard decisions.
Rajat Sharma: Did you read a lot about Atal Ji before doing the movie?
Pankaj Tripathi: I read a lot about him. I read so much that I can now write a book myself. I regret I could not meet you before the shooting. I could add one more dimension.
Rajat Sharma: Atal Ji was an emotional person. His eyes used to well up with tears. Like you, he was always affectionate towards people…I don’t know whether this aspect will be reflected in your movie or not.
Pankaj Tripathi: It will surely reflect. Our effort is to make young people know about Atal Ji’s personality. In life, if you have food, shelter, and clothing, what’s the fourth thing you want? Inspiration. Atal Ji’s story will surely inspire people to do something great, particularly Gen Z and Millennium kids. Our effort is to let people know how a kid from Bateshwar became Hon’ble Atal Bihari Vajpayee. His humanitarian and personal traits are reflected here.
Rajat Sharma: Can you tell us one special dimension that is going to be reflected? His oratory or his politics?
Pankaj Tripathi: About the oratory, I am sorry, however, I may try, but it is difficult to create Atal Ji’s oratory (on celluloid). I did not prefer imitation and mimicry in the film. There are two reasons for that: One, is that is formless, and the other is, Chetna (awareness). It will look too serious.
Rajat Sharma: You mean to say, your character will not speak like Atal Ji in the movie?
Pankaj Tripathi: You may get the feel, but not exactly like that of Atal Ji. No mimicry and imitation. No copying his style of speaking. Whatever I am speaking here right now, is on speaker, but behind it, there is an amplifier. It is my thought. In my mind which one is more important: Is sound important or the thought? So I tried to catch Atal Ji’s thoughts, tried to understand it, and tried to portray it. What would have been his thought when he said, “Governments will come and go, parties will be formed and split, but this nation should remain? The nation’s democracy must exist.” So the thought is important here. I tried to catch his mental state by trying to portray his thoughts and frame of mind. ….
Rajat Sharma: He had a long political career and such a big canvas in his life.
Pankaj Tripathi: Yes Sir. it is impossible to encapsulate it within two hours of cinema. We selected the main events of his life and linked them to appear as if it were a story that ran for two hours. A beginning, a middle, and an end. It is difficult to squeeze his entire life into two hours of cinema.
Rajat Sharma: Did you feel the change in yourself while reading about him and enacting Atal Ji’s role?
Pankaj Tripathi: Atal Ji’s personality made me a peace-loving man. It made my inner self democratic. Meaning, if you criticize me, I will not get angry. One may have one’s perspective, but there must be assent to dissent also. You can disagree with me. I agree on this point. Atal Ji’s character brought a change in my persona on this point…
Rajat Sharma: I had once asked Atal Ji to teach me the art of oratory. He said, do not learn the art of speech, if you want to learn, learn how to remain silent.
Pankaj Tripathi: Such a big observation. Today I am in Aap Ki Adalat, otherwise, I would also have preferred to remain silent.
Helmed and co-written by Ravi Jadhav, ‘Main Atal Hoon’ has been bankrolled by Bhanudhal Studios Limited and Legend Studios Production. Besides Pankaj Tripathi in the lead role, the film also stars Benedict Garrett and Madhu Singh in other key roles. It will hit the silver screen on January 19, 2024.