‘I Am The Madhav Mishra Of Acting’

‘As
an
actor
I
feel
I
have
a
strong
relatability
with
the
common
Indian.’
‘Madhav
Mishra
is
not
a
character
of
cinema,
he
is
a
character
from
and
of
our
society.’

Pankaj
Tripathi
returns
as
his
popular
character
Madhav
Mishra
in
the
fourth
season
of

Criminal
Justice,
which
is
getting


good
reviews.

“The
culture
and
accent,
the
upbringing
in
Bihar,
the
innocence
of
Bihar,
the
satire,
I
can
easily
infuse
that
in
this
character.
I
did
not
need
to
work
on
it.
Bihar
is
part
of
my
DNA,”
Pankaj
tells

Subhash
K
Jha.

What
kind
of
relationship
have
you
developed
with
Madhav
Mishra
in

Criminal
Justice
over
the
years?

I
often
say
that
I
am
the
Madhav
Mishra
of
acting
because
he
used
to
serve
affidavits,
that
is,
he
was
a
lawyer
in
survival
mode,
he
used
to
do
small
jobs
for
survival.

I
came
from
a
small
cinema
where
I
did
one
or
two
scenes.

And
see
where
you
are
now.

I
feel
a
very
strong
sense
of
belonging.

The
identification
is
very
strong;
both
are
connected
with
Bihar.

Do
you
know
that
I
also
studied
at
the
Patna
Law
College?

I
remember
(Writer)
Sridhar
Raghavan
had
come
to
narrate
Season
One
to
me,
so
he
said,
‘This
is
a
remake
of

Criminal
Justice
Britain,
will
you
watch
it?
I
said
I
will
not
watch
it,
I
am
not
interested
in
remakes.

So
initially
you
said
no
to

Criminal
Justice?

I
didn’t
say
no.

Main
kaun
hota
hoon
na
kehne
wala?

I
told
Sridhar,
“For
me,
the
original
character
is
whatever
you
write.
Whatever
will
you
give
me,
I
will
interpret
it
in
my
own
way
and
perform
it.”

In
the
original
series
on
the
BBC,
the
lawyer
changed
in
every
season.

Yes.
In
the
two
seasons,
there
were
two
different
lawyers
and
different
characters.
But
here,
in
each
season,
we
visit
the
world
of
Madhav
Mishra
and
his
different
cases.

The
culture
and
accent,
the
upbringing
in
Bihar,
the
innocence
of
Bihar,
the
satire,
I
can
easily
infuse
that
in
this
character.
I
did
not
need
to
work
on
it.
Bihar
is
part
of
my
DNA.

My
wife’s
character
is
played
by
Khushboo
Atre,
who
is
from
Indore,
but
she
is
so
amazing
that
it
doesn’t
even
seem
that
she
is
not
from
Bihar.

In
the
past
four
seasons,
do
you
feel
Madhav
Mishra
is
growing,
and
your
interpretation
of
the
character
is
also
growing?

Yes,
absolutely.
At
the
beginning
of
this
new
season,
there
is
a
big
corporate
law
firm
that
comes
to
hire
Madhav
Mishra.

Madhav
asks,
‘Why
do
you
want
to
take
me
in
your
firm,
want
to
make
a
contract,
etc.’

The
corporate
guy
says,
‘Because
your
face
has
relatability
with
a
common
man.’

Somewhere
as
an
actor
too,
I
feel
I
have
a
strong
relatability
with
the
common
Indian.

Madhav
Mishra
is
not
a
character
of
cinema,
he
is
a
character
from
and
of
our
society.

You
share
screen
space
in

Criminal
Justice
with
some
capable
co-stars.

Yes.
Mohammed
Zeeshan
Ayyub
was
my
junior
at
NSD
(National
School
Of
Drama).

Mita
Vashishtji
was
my
senior.

The
actress
who
plays
the
lady
cop,
Kalyanee
Mulay,
is
amazing.
I
saw
her
in
a
play
eight
years
ago
in
NSD.
She
looked
very
different
at
that
time.

I
had
a
flight,
so
I
had
to
leave
five
minutes
before
the
play
was
to
end.

I
took
her
number
and
told
her
that
you
did
an
amazing
job.

Surveen
Chawla
is
fantastic.
In
that
sequence
in
the
park
at
the
end,
we
worked
really
hard
to
ensure
the
focus
is
on
her.

If

Criminal
Justice
has
worked
out
so
well,
it
is
because
everyone
has
given
their
best.