New Delhi, Jul 17 (IANS): One of Bollywood's finest actors and winner of several honours including National Award, Pankaj Tripathi does not believe in living his life as a star as he says that he is an ordinary middle-class person and enjoys his life that way.

“You have seen how I am in my personal life. I am a simple, ordinary middle-class person. My work may not look like that but my way of living is actually that… I am a middle-class person and I enjoy my life like that,” Pankaj told IANS, while speaking about his life off the screen.

Pankaj, who graduated from the National School of Drama in 2004, gained the spotlight in 2012 with filmmaker Anurag Kashyaps’ 'Gangs Of Wasseypur'. He was then seen in hit films such as the 'Fukrey' franchise, 'Masaan', 'Nil Battey Sannata', 'Bareilly Ki Barfi', 'Mimi', 'Stree', 'Ludo', 'Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl' and made the English movie 'Extraction' starring Chris Hemsworth.

He gained major stardom with his work in the series such as the 'Sacred Games', 'Mirzapur' and 'Criminal Justice'. Looking forward, he has his diaries full with releases such as 'Stree 2' and 'Metro…In Dino'.

With back-to-back releases, how does he balance work with personal life?

“I have lessened my work so I can balance life better now. I am home right now. Till the time my wife doesn’t get troubled, I will stay home only… Right now I am doing less work. Earlier I used to work more and it was hectic… I will do less work for some time,” said the actor, who hails from Gopalganj district in Bihar.

The actor believes that with more exposure on screen, “people will get bored and so will I.”

“I prefer that after promotions are done and I am out. I love staying in my space,” said Pankaj, who is fondly referred to by his character's name: Kaleen Bhaiya (from 'Mirzapur').

He makes no bones about being the most “less informed person” about his own projects for a reason.

“I am the least informed person, when it comes to my projects as I work and then rush back home. The makers know that he doesn’t want any information then why inform him?” he said with a chuckle.

“I work and come home. When the editing is locked for the film or not, they call and say they need a date for some shoot so I say okay. I have no idea,” said Pankaj, who has even worked on the small screen in shows such as 'Powder' and 'Zindagi Ka Har Rang...Gulaal'.

With the airing of 'Mirzapur 3', Pankaj, as Kaleen Bhaiya in the series, was missed by critics and fans alike as he had very limited screen space.

Asked what makes Kaleen Bhaiya so loved, Pankaj said: “He is a new type of don. Not a traditional don. He is a soft-spoken and graceful person but his work is strange. He is unpredictable. There was a certain kind of humour in him, which this season did not have because he is in low life.”

He agrees there is something likeable about Kaleen Bhaiya.

“There is some likeability in him, which I tried making because in writing he was just a villain but while performing it took that shape and that is the uniqueness of the character,” he said.