Subscribe to any OTT platform, and you will find me," laughs Pankaj Tripathi, undoubtedly the star of 2020. It was almost as if the actor could do no wrong last year, as he appeared in Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl, Ludo, Mirzapur 2 and Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors, shining brighter in every subsequent outing. No wonder then, he has bagged two nominations in the Best Supporting Actor category — Film and Series — for his performances in Gunjan Saxena and Criminal Justice 2 respectively at the upcoming mid-day and Radio City Hitlist OTT Awards.   

Even as he has become a force to reckon with in the Hindi film industry, Tripathi says that digital entertainment gave him his due. "I have been doing Hindi movies for years, but I was never put on posters of Hindi films. OTT platforms did that for me. [The makers] of web series didn't think twice about my worth as an actor before putting me on the posters. That means a lot to me. When digital entertainment started off in India, it didn't have stars. So, the [creators] decided to rope in talented actors and make them stars."