In the last few years, Bollywood has witnessed the rise of a once-upon-a-time struggling actor to one of the most loved and revered on-screen performers ever. We are talking about Pankaj Tripathi, a name that has now become familiar to all cinephiles. Regarded as one of the best actors of our time, Pankaj has been part of series like Mirzapur and Sacred Games movies like Stree and Mimi to many more.

Mesmerised as we are by his performances, little is known about his personal life as he usually maintains a low profile and likes to keep his life private. However, he did recently open up about his love life and has shared a beautiful anecdote about how he met his girlfriend for the first time in a public event.

Pankaj Tripathi attended the Amrit Ratna Samman event organised by News18 India at the Taj Palace Hotel in Delhi on the occasion of 75 years of independence, where he was awarded the Amrit Ratna Samman. While delivering his speech, he opened up a bit about his love life. He started by saying that he owes Bollywood Baadshah Shah Rukh Khan for giving him his girlfriend. Explaining his statement, he said that it was while watching the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge that he met his girlfriend. However, the actor did not divulge whether the girlfriend he was referring to was his wife Mridula Tripathi or someone else.

He also revealed that he has watched only about 50-60 films in his life. “I have seen Mithun Chakraborty and Sanjay Dutt’s films in my childhood. Manoj Bajpayee is my inspiration and seeing people like him, I think I have not achieved anything at all. I have received a National Award once and that is the biggest honour I could have,” he said.

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