Mridula And Pankaj Tripathi: A Love Story Of Sticking Together Through Thick And Thin

Mridula and Pankaj Tripathi love story: The world knows Pankaj Tripathi for bringing versatility to our big and small screens, as also off them. The 44-year-old, who has played the vicious Kaleen Bhaiya in the web-series Mirzapur, feminist dad in Bareilly ki Barfi and Gunjan Saxena, is quite a charmer in real life too. His love story with wife Mridula Tripathi is evidence. 

In a conversation with SheThePeople, the couple opens up on how they met, kept up their love story and have always managed to maintain a relationship as equal partners.

A Classic Filmy Meet-Cute Later

Pankaj Tripathi met his wife, Mridula at a wedding in 1993. Henceforth began an extraordinary love story. 

“It was my sister’s wedding and I saw her on the balcony of the terrace and thought to myself, 'this is the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with.' And I did not even know who she was, or what her name was, at the time,” the actor gushed. 

What followed were a few meetings, when Mridula visited her family, after dinners when they discussed books and poems.

During the time when long-distance relationships were a rarity, the couple would send in love letters and talk over phone calls at a fixed time. Overcoming the geographical barriers, while Mridula was in Kolkata and Tripathi was studying in NSD, they kept their love strong. 

We were two bicycle wheels balancing each other out: Mridula & Pankaj Tripathi love story

A minor hiccup came their way when Mridula’s parents sought a likely groom for her. She hatched a scheme and broke up the marriage to stay with Tripathi. Then there was also the issue of not getting the two married into the same family circle. (They were related through Tripathi's sister being Mridula's sister-in-law.)

But surpassing all hindrances, after 12 years of courtship, the two lovebirds tied the knot in 2004. The couple now has a daughter together named Aashi. 

Mridula-Pankaj Tripathi Love Story Is Relationship Goals

While Pankaj was chasing his acting dreams, Mridula worked as a school teacher to support their family. He has never shied away from accepting the fact and questions people for praising him for “admitting what is the truth." 

Talking to SheThePeople, Mridula opened up on this saying, “In a male-dominated society it rarely happens that a man would admit his wife ‘earned’ while he was struggling to establish his career.” 

“Women are known to do the work but they are never acknowledged. That one sentence of acknowledgment makes me my family and my daughter so happy,” Mridula said.

She added, “if I was earning the money, he was making sure that there was food on the table to eat. He was looking after all the household work. We were two bicycle wheels both balancing each other out.”

Watch the couple in conversation with SheThePeople ">here: