Pankaj Tripathi On Censorship: People Create Anything For Sensationalism, But I Censor Myself

Pankaj Tripathi is ranked among a rare breed of actors who have risen to fame because of their natural performances. Success, however, remained elusive for more than a decade before he finally made it. He has been busy with numerous films and shows, and in the past few years, he has become a name to reckon with in the OTT business.

There is a constant debate over the quality of content in the OTT space, and Tripathi also has his own take on the same. “I think the audience is an enlightened lot. They will not pay for any nonsense content. On OTT, you have to create an account and become a member,” says Tripathi during an interview with Outlook earlier.

“Yes, I agree that many people create anything for the sake of sensationalism. But as a responsible actor, I censor myself. I see why I am doing a particular scene, or how important it is in the story,” adds Tripathi talking about censorship on OTT, before the release of 'Mirzapur 2'.

Today’s OTT-obsessed generation wants to watch good content only, and they wouldn’t take anything that filmmakers dish out in the name of entertainment. That’s the reason that not everything on OTT becomes a massive success. There are shows and films that have a mass appeal and also have big celebs as their lead stars, but they barely manage to earn money or popularity when released on OTT.

On the same note, Tripathi also shares a very interesting anecdote from the time he was doing theatre in Patna – a tale that fits perfectly for today’s audiences.

“In my theatre days at Patna's Kalidas Rangalaya, we used to say before the start of each play, ‘a very warm welcome to the learned audience’. We did so because we expected the audience to be learned. Today, viewers on the digital platforms are too sharp and they understand the intent behind every scene. We leave it to the well-meaning audience. They can filter,” concludes Tripathi.