Even after years of complex performances, Pankaj Tripathi speaks about his work with a simplicity that feels almost old-fashioned. When he talks about his next film, Parivarik Manoranjan, you can sense a quiet pride in his voice. “It’s a very beautiful story,” he says, smiling. “It’s not a big drama, there are no loud twists. It’s like slow cooking. You’ll like those small moments that stay with you even after the film ends.”
The film brings him closer to an unexpected co-actor, Aditi Rao Hydari. He says it has been a joy, especially since they come from two different worlds. “Aditi is sincere and hardworking. I saw one of her scenes and was genuinely surprised by how beautiful it was — so natural, so effortless. It’s always nice when a co-actor makes you feel that way.” The film, produced by Ali Abbas Zafar and written by Vijay Kala and Varun V Sharma, who is also directing it, takes Tripathi back to the rhythm of the everyday. “It reminded me of Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s brand of cinema — small, human stories about life as it is. Parivarik Manoranjan is like that. It’s just honest.”
Tripathi’s affection for this kind of cinema stems from both nostalgia and conviction. He believes the “feel-good” genre — which thrived through the 1970s and ’80s — needs revival, not out of sentimentality but necessity. “We’ve made a very unilineal definition of cinema and art. Somewhere, we’ve started believing that only serious, intense stories are real cinema. But that’s not true. Cinema is also about filling the void in your life — that small emptiness that laughter, warmth, or a quiet moment can fill.”
He says he found a similar emotional range in films like Metro… In Dino, which he calls “a slice-of-life picture with repeat value.” According to him, such films can be watched again, and viewers will always find something new. “That’s the beauty of slow and calm storytelling — it grows with you.” Unlike the morally ambiguous worlds of Mirzapur and Criminal Justice, he adds, “You binge it once, you discuss it, and you move on. It’s thrilling — but it doesn’t call you back again and again. Parivarik Manoranjan is the kind of film you want to sit with again — maybe on a rainy day or a quiet Sunday. It gives you peace.”
Even as he prepares to return to the chaotic worlds of Mirzapur and Criminal Justice 5, there’s a glow on his face when he speaks about Parivarik Manoranjan. “There’s entertainment in silence too. You just need to look for it,” he says.
Tripathi’s slice of life films
2015 ‘Masaan’
2017 ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’
2017 ‘Newton’
2020 ‘Ludo’
2021 ‘Kaagaz’
2025 ‘Metro… In Dino’
