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 the clock for actor Pankaj Tripathi, who is taking a break due to the coronavirus lockdown.

One of the busiest actors in Bollywood right now, Tripathi said the isolation period has made him view nature differently and why respecting it is the 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 not getting the time to rest so now I get up a little late as I don't have a 7 am shift. As I am not going to work, sometimes I am unaware about time, day and date. Earlier, life moved according to the time," he told PTI in an interview here. The actor said he gets to sit by the window and watch the sunset, which is not always possible.

"I didn't know that I can see a beautiful sunset from my house but now I see it every day, I had never seen such clear and beautiful sky in the last 10 years, I can see the stars shining now. I believe we all have stopped respecting nature as human beings. We are today using nature as a tool to just 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 the world has witnessed many such pandemics before. But it is time we start respecting nature," he said. "Out of 130 crore of the Indian population not even 120 crore of them 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 the season two of Hotstar Special series "Criminal Justice", but as a precautionary measure the team stopped shooting from March 14. He has been at home since.

"I followed the guidelines like maintaining social distancing, washing hands. I had stopped going out from March 14 much before the Janata Curfew was announced," he informed. The 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.

"They are fine. There are not many people living there so they are, as it is, maintaining social distancing. I wasn't getting time to go there because of my packed schedule. This time I was thinking about visiting my parents as there were no shoots happening. But now due to lockdown, I can't." The actor urged everyone to remain indoors as that's the only way to contain the spread of the pandemic.  

"As a responsible citizen, we should follow the lockdown and I urge everyone that this is the fight we all should win by sitting at home and maintaining hygiene. Precaution is the only cure for this epidemic." Tripathi stays in Madh Island, which he said is an isolated area, and he stocked the essentials that would last a few days. "I am not someone who will panic over basic essentials. I don't know why people are panicking about availability of food items. There is lockdown in the country, there is no 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 innovative 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 innovative only when there 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 the work front, Tripathi has a slew of projects up for release including director Kabir Khan's "83", the "Gunjan Saxena" biopic starring Jahnvi Kapoor, filmmaker Anurag Basu's multi-starrer "Ludo", Kriti Sanon's "Mimi", "Kaagaz", which is produced by Salman Khan and American action-thriller film "Extraction" from Netflix.

He has also shot for the 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 the web, and pat comes the reply, "No entertainment for me at the moment. I don't watch TV or anything on digital anyway. I'd rather spend my time with family, reading books and cooking."