Anurag Kashyap on Pankaj Jha’s comments: Maybe he is thinking he could have become Pankaj Tripathi

Director Anurag Kashyap recently responded to Pankaj Jha’s accusations against the filmmaker for not taking him for the role of “Sultan” in Gangs of Wasseypur. The character was ultimately played by Pankaj Tripathi.

In an interview with Digital Commentary, Jha, who was recently seen in the role of Vidhayak in Panchayat season 3, claimed that he was filming in Patna when Anurag approached him for a role in Gangs of Wasseypur. The actor said that he informed Anurag that he was in the middle of a shoot, and would return in a day or two, but later found out that Pankaj Tripathi had already been cast in his place.

Calling himself a “director-making actor”, Jha took a jibe at Anurag. “While films like Satya and Gulaal create actors, they also make directors. But there are so many timid and spineless people here that they can’t even keep their word,” he said with a smirk. “Later, I found out that the director himself was in a bad situation, getting no work, and was doing 36 different jobs on this project.”

Anurag, recently in an interview with India Today, responded to the comments. “I don’t remember what exactly happened. But we were shooting for The Girl in Yellow Boots and he had moved to Osho in Pune to paint. We were supposed to start shooting for Gangs of Wasseypur and he (Pankaj Jha) was not available. We were on a tight budget and could not wait for him. We made the film in a very different condition and budget. Now, he may be thinking after 20 years, he could have become Pankaj Tripathi,” he said.

He added, “I have worked with him, and he has actually been my go-to actor. We worked in Gulaal and Black Friday. I would love to work with him again, but the fact is, he is not accessible at all.”

In another interview with Indianexpress.com, Jha clarified his statement and said that he “never mentioned” the name of “any Tripathi” in any of his interviews so far.

“You can go listen to all of my interviews. You will know I haven’t mentioned anybody’s name at all. This is very childish thing to do. Why will I go talk all this to anybody? Media always needs masala, I never said anything such, they just made it up. Becoming an actor is not the ultimate achievement. Just like how every actor wants to become a big star, similarly several journalists are also running behind fame. They make up stories to gain attention and recognition,” he said.

On the work front, Anurag will next be seen as a villain in the Gulshan Devaiah starrer series Bad Cop and also the Tamil film Maharaja, starring Vijay Sethupathi.