Pankaj Tripathi To Play Atal Bihari Vajpayee: Know All About The Upcoming Biopic

If you think that you've seen all of Pankaj Tripathi's best performances, wait till he surprises you. The actor, who has played diverse roles across genres on OTT and the big screen, was yet to star in a biopic. The actor's filmography is now all set to become even better with the new announcement of a biopic he is going to feature in as the main lead, and it's that of former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Pankaj Tripathi is all set to play the former PM Late Atal Bihari Vajpayee in an upcoming biopic that is a tribute to the late minister's life and political career.

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Pankaj Tripathi As Atal Vajpayee

The biopic is titled 'Main Rahoon Ya Na Rahoon Yeh Desh Rehna Chahiye Atal' and is based on the book called, The Untold Vajpayee: Politician And Paradox, which is written by author Ullekh NP.

Pankaj Tripathi took to his Instagram account to express his happiness over the same and confirmed the news. "India is not a piece of land, it is a living national man. The great Indian leader who writes these lines. I consider it my privilege to get the opportunity to play the role of Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ji on the big screen. ATAL soon," he wrote on his social media page.

While the biopic was announced in June earlier this year, the cast was not confirmed, and that got the audience more intrigued in finding out who could play the former PM. With Tripathi's announcement, the news has been well received by his fans across social media.

"Main Rahoon Ya Na Rahoon Yeh Desh Rehna Chahiye Atal"

Sharing a picture of Pankaj Tripathi in context with him starring as the former PM, the biopic's director Director Ravi Jadhav expressed his gratitude for the opportunity and wrote, "For me, it is an absolute honour, to bring alive a story on the screen of a legend, a visionary and an exemplary leader and politician." The film is written by Utkarsh Naithani.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee was sworn in as the Prime Minister of India in 1996 but he resigned within two weeks of taking oath as his party, the BJP failed to generate enough majority through the support from other parties. Vajpayee, however, was back as India's PM in 1998 and 1999 respectively for a second and third term. The former PM passed away in August 2018, at 93. Vajpayee was one of the co-founders of the BJP, who helmed the party for several decades under his leadership.

Tripathi recently starred in Netflix's Sherdil: The Pilibhit Saga, and his performance in which was hugely appreciated. Atal is expected to release around Christmas 2023.