Pankaj Tripathi says many people come up to him for selfies and sometimes they have not even seen any of his work but they know about his performance through memes and reels that keep trending on social media.

The actor, whose Kaleen Bhaiya's character from Prime Video series "Mirzapur" first became a viral meme, credits public for making him into a popular face.

“I just say what I feel like. I’m glad people connect to it. Janta (public) has made me popular with memes and reels. I’m the hero of the audience, they made me a popular actor. I don’t know marketing and all. Earlier, I would turn up for interviews and events dressed casually, but now I dress up," Tripathi told PTI in an interview.

Tripathi, who hails from Belsand village in Gopalganj district of Bihar, narrated an incident from his birthplace to reiterate his social media popularity and how it sometimes has nothing to do with his movies.

"Recently, I came across two boys in my village. They came to me and said they wanted a picture with me. I was like, ‘Which film or show of mine have you seen?’ They said, ‘We haven’t seen any of them but we have seen your memes'. They were like, 'We are just happy to see you'," he recalled.

The actor, who will next be seen in a biopic on former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, understands commercial cinema's ability to reach a wide audience. His own taste in cinema may veer towards the middle-of-the-road and independent projects but he always tries to strike a balance when it comes to his roles, he said.

Tripathi said he is an admirer of films such as “Court”, “Killa”, “Trance” and “Mandela” but commercial cinema, with its power to reach more people, can also impart a message.

“My sense of cinema is that it should be sensible yet commercial, and have a wide reach. We make films with the intention to reach out to more people. Like, ‘Oh My God 2’ is sensible cinema. It was such a solid subject about sex education and it did well at the box office and on OTT,” Tripathi said.

"We often learn a lot of things when said in a light hearted manner. While, the moment we become serious, we might lose interest. But as an audience my interest is in independent cinema,” he added.

Tripathi said his upcoming release, “Main Atal Hoon”, on former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, is made in a sensible and engaging manner.

The biographical drama is directed by filmmaker Ravi Jadhav of “Natarang” and “Balgandharva” fame.

“This is the story of Atal ji's life and also of India's journey from the time of independence, how elections would happen, how voting would happen, how society changed. The purpose of the biopic is to provide entertainment and at the same time it serves as an inspiration,” the actor said.

The actor further said when he first arrived on the “Main Atal Hoon” set, he didn't feel "confident".

“I’m never confident on the first day of shoot irrespective of the role, whether it is fictional or non-fictional. I’m always like, ‘What will I do? How will I do it? For two-three days, I've been struggling to find the sur of the character.

On the first day of the shoot of ‘Main Atal Hoon’, I was doing all the loud gestures and postures. I was sure I didn’t want to imitate Atal ji or get close to him in terms of his look with the help of prosthetics, I had to capture his soul.” In response to a question about how the team ensured the movie would not end up as propaganda, Tripathi said they had made every effort to be authentic.

“We were aware and conscious about it but our whole purpose was to bring out the persona of Atal ji on the big screen. Since the film is a biopic, we had to make sure that we got things factually correct,” he said.

“I feel one should present the person on screen in the most honest possible way. We are humans, we have both goodness and shortcomings and that’s how it should be presented on screen,” he added.

Produced by Vinod Bhanushali, Sandeep Singh, and Kamlesh Bhanushali, “Main Atal Hoon” will hit theatres on January 19. Bhavesh Bhanushali and Sam Khan serve as co-producers on the movie.

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