Pankaj Tripathi's father Pandit Banaras Tiwari dies at 99

Actor Pankaj Tripathi’s father Pandit Banaras Tiwari has died. He was 99.

The actor, who was shooting for a film in Uttarakhand, has left for his village in Belsand, Bihar. His father lived there with his mother while Pankaj lived in Mumbai with his wife and daughter.

In an earlier interview with Hindustan Times, Pankaj talked about his father. He shared, ‘My father wanted me to become a doctor. The place where I hail from — a village in Gopalganj in North Bihar — people, only know two professions: an engineer or a doctor. I am a son of a farmer. My village is [situated so much in the] interior that there are still no well-built roads there.’

He added, ‘They didn’t have any unfulfilled dreams, which they would have wanted me to fulfill. The only concern they had was whether I would be able to earn rozi-roti. I told them that if I went to Delhi (Pankaj is an alumnus of National School of Drama), I could even get a government job. Now, the thing with middle-class people is that sarkaari job sunke unhe lagta hai theek hoga. So my father said, ‘yes’.’

Earlier in August, in an interview with Mashable, the actor added that his father is not aware of his acting work. He said, ‘He is not too proud of my achievements. My father does not even know what and how I do in cinema. To date, he has not seen how a movie theatre looks from the inside. He sees my work if someone shows him on their computer or on the television, which was recently installed at my house.’

Pankaj Tripathi was recently seen in ‘OMG 2’ with Akshay Kumar and Yami Gautam.

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