Pankaj Tripathi isn't watching anything entertainment, talks about life amid lockdown

From reading books, spending time with his daughter to to making 'daal' in different ways, life has suddenly stopped being dictated by clock for actor Pankaj Tripathi, who is taking a break due to coronavirus lockdown.

One of busiest actors in Bollywood right w, Tripathi said isolation period has made him view nature differently and why respecting it is only hope for humanity. "I am relaxing, reading books like one on Nargis Dutt called 'Darling Ji', 'Indian Method in Acting' by Prasanna, reading my daughter's geography book. I am doing all those things I was unable to do earlier due to my busy schedule.

"I was t getting time to rest so w I get up a little late as I don't have a 7 am shift. As I am t going to work, sometimes I am unaware about time, day and date. Earlier, life moved according to time," he told PTI in an interview here. actor said he gets to sit by window and watch sunset, which is t always possible.

"I didn't kw that I can see a beautiful sunset from my house but w I see it every day, I had never seen such clear and beautiful sky in last 10 years, I can see stars shining w. I believe we all have stopped respecting nature as human beings. We are today using nature as a tool to just click a selfie so that we can post it on Instagram," he said.

Tripathi said it is important for everyone to plant a tree. "I am sure we will overcome this (coronavirus) as world has witnessed many such pandemics before. But it is time we start respecting nature," he said. "Out of 130 crore of Indian population t even 120 crore of m would have planted trees. It should be made mandatory for every person to plant a tree. "If you don't have land of your own, one can get in touch with an NGO  instead of gifting bouquets and plants. We believe oxygen and water come for free and rains also come automatically. Going ahead we all have to be careful."

Tripathi was shooting for season two of Hotstar Special series "Criminal Justice", but as a precautionary measure team stopped shooting from March 14. He has been at home since.

"I followed guidelines like maintaining social distancing, washing hands. I had stopped going out from March 14 much before Janata Curfew was anunced," he informed. actor said he was contemplating about going to his hometown in Bihar to be with his parents but as situation worsened he couldn't go. But he is in constant touch with his family.

"y are fine. re are t many people living re so y are, as it is, maintaining social distancing. I wasn't getting time to go re because of my packed schedule. This time I was thinking about visiting my parents as re were shoots happening. But w due to lockdown, I can't." actor urged everyone to remain indoors as that's only way to contain spread of pandemic.  

"As a responsible citizen, we should follow lockdown and I urge everyone that this is fight we all should win by sitting at home and maintaining hygiene. Precaution is only cure for this epidemic." Tripathi stays in Madh Island, which he said is an isolated area, and he stocked essentials that would last a few days. "I am t someone who will panic over basic essentials. I don't kw why people are panicking about availability of food items. re is lockdown in country, re is scarcity of food. I am cooking food for my daughter and I have learnt we can make 'daal' in so many different ways.

"Because of lot facilities available to us, we have become lazy and we have stopped becoming invative in our thinking," he said, adding, his wife made masks at home from cotton cloth. "If she didn't try this we would have ended up buying mask from outside. We usually become creative and invative only when re is a dearth of anything.

"One should take this situation positively and learn a lot of things from it. In this fast paced world we have forgotten to enjoy life and we are just running, including me," he added.  

On work front, Tripathi has a slew of projects up for release including director Kabir Khan's "83", "Gunjan Saxena" biopic starring Jahnvi Kapoor, filmmaker Anurag Basu's multi-starrer "Ludo", Kriti San's "Mimi", "Kaagaz", which is produced by Salman Khan and American action-thriller film "Extraction" from Netflix.

He has also shot for second season of Amazon Prime Video original series "Mirzapur", while some portions of "Criminal Justice" are yet to be shot. Asked if he is watching anything on TV or on web, and pat comes reply, " entertainment for me at moment. I don't watch TV or anything on digital anyway. I'd rar spend my time with family, reading books and cooking."