Pankaj Tripathi Reveals Why He Changed His Father's Surname From Tiwari: 'Didn't Want To Become...'

Pankaj Tripathi is one of the most celebrated actors in Bollywood today. He is known for his stellar acting prowess and gripping screen presence. However, many fans were unaware that his real surname was Tiwari and not Tripathi, till he changed it one day in class 10. Pankaj revealed the reason behind this while talking to India TV.

Pankaj said, “It must be the first time in history that a father got a name from his son. I was filling out the admit card for the 10th standard. My uncle would use the surname Tripathi and he had become an officer in the government. There was also one Baba who had a Tripathi surname, he became a professor of Hindi. Those who had my surname, Tiwari, were either priests or were doing farming. So, I thought this was because of the surname. I didn’t want to become a farmer or a priest. So I wrote my name as Tripathi in the form. But then I thought I couldn’t write my father’s name as Tiwari in the form as it might get rejected. So I changed his name too.”

In the same interview, Pankaj recalled his childhood in his native village, Belsand in Bihar. He recalled the time when he used to perform stunts on a bicycle. “I used to perform stunts on the bicycle because there was a boy who would perform such stunts and he was very popular among girls. I am talking about the time I was in 7th or 8th standard in school. In school at the time, a slow cycle race was organised, so the boy, who was the winner of that race, became very popular among girls. So, I learned the same thing hoping that I would be the winner next year, but I lost, I wasn’t the winner,” he said.

Meanwhile, on the work front, he will next be seen in Main Atal Hoon, releasing on January 19 this year.