Pankaj Tripathi to play man declared dead in Satish Kaushik's next

Pankaj Tripathi's collection of unique and real characters is set to increase. After playing a gangster in the web-series Mirzapur and a South Indian actor in the biopic on Shakeela, Tripathi is now set to play a man wrongly declared dead in director Satish Kaushik's next film. 

The film is based on the true story of farmer Bharat Lal aka Lal Bihari, who was declared dead at the behest of his relatives trying to usurp his land.

Bharat Lal spent 18 years trying to prove legally that he was alive, after corrupt officials had removed him from existence in all legal documents. 

Set in Azamgarh, the film is reportedly called Kaagaz, and has already gone on the floors. 

Speaking about the film, Tripathi said, "The story is based on the real-life of incidents of Bharat Lal aka Lal Bihari from Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, who struggled for 18 years to prove his identity that he is not dead but alive. The story that he [Satish Kaushik] conceived of, according to him, I was the correct person to play the part. We belong to the same acting school [National School of Drama] with a theatre background. He called me to hear the story and I liked the story very much."

Tripathi is currently awaiting the release of his upcoming series, Mirzapur, where he plays a gangster, Kaleen Bhaiyya. The actor was last seen in Amar Kaushik's horror comedy, Stree (2018).

The actor will also be seen in Super 30 (2019) alongside Hrithik Roshan, which is scheduled for release on 25 January 2019. The actor is also working with Richa Chadha in the biopic based on the South Indian soft-porn actress, Shakeela.