Pankaj Tripathi excited to work with Satish Kaushik

Actor Pankaj Tripathi, who will essay activist and farmer Lal Bihari from Azamgarh in a film by Satish Kaushik, is excited about working under his direction.

The film is a real-life tale of an innocent farmer from Bihar who was, through bribery, declared dead in his town's official records by his relatives to illegally capture his land. Lal Bihari had to then fight with the Indian bureaucracy for 18 long years before he could prove himself to be alive.

Pankaj plays this role in the film, for which the shooting has begun in a small village in Bihar.

Talking about it, the acclaimed actor said in a statement: "I know Satish sir better as an actor. I have seen him performing in films since my childhood, the recent one being 'Udta Punjab'. As a director, I've seen his 'Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai' and the rest of them I am yet to see.

"The story of our film is based on the real life incidents of Bharat Lal aka Lal Bihari from Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh who struggled 18 years in a legal battle to prove his identity that he is not dead but alive. For the story that he (Satish) conceived, according to him I was the correct person to play the part."

Satish and Pankaj are both alumni of the National School of Drama and have a theatre background.

"He called me to hear the story and I liked it very much."

The movie is expected to release mid next year.