Pankaj Tripathi’s casting in film by Anurag Kashyap was uncertain

• Pankaj received a lot of appreciation for his role as Sultan Qureshi, but Anurag not really choose him because he preferred another actor.
• Mukesh Chhabra stated, how he eventually persuaded Anurag Kashyap to give Pankaj the role of Sultan.

Pankaj Tripathi and other renowned actors found success in Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur series. He received a lot of appreciation for his role as Sultan Qureshi, but Anurag not really choose him because he preferred another actor.

Mukesh Chhabra, the film’s casting director, recently remembered how it took him more than a year to find the 384 people he was requested to cast. Chhabra was asked to find performers for the crime-action movie. He remembered how he eventually persuaded Anurag Kashyap to give Pankaj the role of Sultan.

According to Mukesh, “This has also been highlighted once or twice by Anurag Kashyap. Regarding Pankaj Tripathi, he wasn’t convinced he was unsure of his identity. I knew Pankaj Tripathi was a fantastic performer because we were both at NSD at about the same time. In plays, I had seen him,  I won’t mention the actor’s name but Anurag wanted someone else. He agreed to have both of them go through an audition once I persuaded him.”

Added he, “Pankaj was filming in the South when I called and asked him to come to Bombay. We conducted similar auditions for him and the other actor over the period of one day. I asked Anurag to let me know his choice before handing him the laptop with the tape and leaving the room. He stated that we should give Sultan to this actor since he is so good.”

The movie ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ both parts were released in theatres in 2012. Apart form Pankaj, Manoj Bajpayee, Richa Chadha, Jaideep Ahlawat, Reema Sen, Piyush Mishra, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Vineet Kumar Singh, Huma Qureshi, Anurita Jha, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Vipin Sharma, Jameel Khan, and Yashpal Sharma were among the main cast members of Gangs of Wasseypur .

Since then, Pankaj has acted in a number of movies, including Fukrey, Masaan, Newton, Bareilly Ki Barfi, and many more. He last appeared in Sherdil: The Pilibhit Saga as Ganga Ram. The web series Criminal Justice: Adhura Sach will shortly feature him.

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