11 June,2020 07:02 AM IST | | Mohar Basu
Pankaj Tripathi
With several big projects - including Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl, Ludo and 83 - under his belt, it is surprising when Pankaj Tripathi says that he holds Kagaz closest to his heart. But the actor has his reasons - he believes that in telling the real-life story of Lal Bihari, the Azamgarh-based farmer who was declared dead on paper, the Satish Kaushik-directed film wonderfully captures the earthiness of rural India. While Bollywood films have discovered the charm of small-town stories in the recent years, Tripathi says that the industry has yet to wake up to its rural counterpart.
"There-s a large part of India, and a beautiful one at that, which remains unexplored on the big screen. There needs to be a better depiction of rural India; it needs to go beyond the caricaturish portrayals for comic relief. There are many underdog stories of relentless work and perseverance waiting to be told," argues the actor.
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He is proud that Salman Khan recognised the merit of the narrative and agreed to back it. "Kagaz was a journey that took me back to my time in Gopalgunj [his village]. I hope the film will mark the beginning of many such stories," he adds.
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