Pankaj says shooting the Atal Bihari Vajpayee biopic was a learning experience for him. “I have never done a biopic before.He was so much more than a politicians. Atalji was a poet, thinker, reformist. Just knowing about him made me a better human being.”
Pankaj no longer wastes his time on the sets between shots. “I’ve developed a very good habit of reading. I spend my free time reading up on various subjects. The more knowledge one acquires the more ignorant one feels.”
The other change in Pankaj is sartorial. “I’ve acquired a taste for Khadi and Handloom clothes. People have no idea of how comfortable and how beautiful the these fabrics are. In my hometown Gopalganj in Bihar there is very large outlet for handloom material. I buy all the sheets curtains and kurta material from this store whenever I visit home.”
One of the reasons Pankaj enjoyed playing Atalji was the dhoti. “It is such a comfortable apparel . I grew up watching my father in it. Now I got to wear it while playing Atalji.No apparel can match the dhoti in comfort and elegance.”
OMG2 is on release. But all Pankaj will say at the moment is, “It was a very enjoyable experience. The director Amrit Rai is also from Bihar. We bonded well and I think we’ve made a film that we can be proud of.”
After the release of OMG2 Pankaj intends to take a sabbatical. “This volume of work doesn’t suit me. I need to take a vacation from my vocation to recharge my batteries.”