By Radhika Bhirani
Lonavla, Sep 4 (IANS): Actor Pankaj Tripathi, who has bid goodbye to the small screen as he finds it a "9 to 5" job, says now he is more selective than in the past about the films he does.
The actor was here for the premiere of his upcoming film "Life Biryani" at the Lonavla International Film Festival India (LIFFI).
Having featured in films like "Gangs of Wasseypur", "Omkara", "Singham Returns", "Dabangg 2", "Fukrey", "Dilwale" and "Nil Battey Sannata", Pankaj, in his over a decade-long association with showbiz has proved his mettle as an actor.
How does he choose his films?
"If I read a script and feel it's enjoyable and it's exciting, I get associated with it. Earlier, I never used to choose... I just used to do projects. But now I am a little selective," Pankaj told IANS here.
"Now, I do a film which is good for the society, like 'Nil Battey Sannata'. So, either a film has a strong message for the betterment of the society, or the film is average but my role has weight, or some I do also for relationship building," he said.
"I have two, three criteria -- script, role and sometimes, we have to do roles for money too because we even have to live," he added.
But if an actor gets too choosy, doesn't he often end up sitting at home?
"Absolutely! That's why we have to do a commercial film off and on. I did 'Dilwale', 'Singham Returns'... So, doing one commercial film a year gives me enough money to live," said the National School of Drama alumnus.
Now, he is working on "Fukrey 2", a sequel to the 2013 coming-of-age comedy film "Fukrey" which starred Pulkit Samrat, Varun Sharma, Ali Fazal, Manjot Singh, Richa Chadha, Vishakha Singh and Priya Anand.
"The sequel has a brilliant script. In fact, it is more hilarious and fun than the first part. It has madness in it," said Pankaj, who essayed Pandit in "Fukrey".
He said another commercial movie is in the pipeline for him, but he would talk about it when everything is locked.
Pankaj's work on TV was also appreciated when he starred as Dushyant Singh in TV serial "Sarojini". But he does not want to do it anymore.
"Small screen is like a 9-5 job. It's like you go everyday with a tiffin...and act. Besides, there's no worthwhile content. They repeat one thing in 100 episodes. It gets boring," he said.