Pankaj Tripathi is a Bollywood actor who captivated audiences with his natural and powerful acting. Pankaj Tripathi has appeared in many films in various roles so far. This time, Tripathi plays former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

On Friday, producers announced that Pankaj Tripathi will play the role of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in a biopic titled Main Rahoon Ya Na Rahoon Yeh Desh Rehna Chahiye – Atal. The film was written by Utkarsh Naitani and directed by three-time national award winner Ravi Jadhav. The film follows the journey of the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, one of the founders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Speaking about his role in the film, Tripathi said he is honoured to play such an iconic and multifaceted role as Vajpayee. In a statement, the 46-year-old actor said: “I am honoured to play a great politician in the film. He was not only a politician but also a great writer and famous poet. It’s an honour for an actor like me to play his role.”

Director Ravi Jadhav is known for his Marathi films Natrang and Balagandharva. Speaking about the project, he said it was a unique opportunity to make a film about the late leader alongside a talented actor like Tripathi. “As a director, I couldn’t wish for a better story from Atalji. Talented actors such as Pankaj Tripathi tell the story of Atalji most of all on the screen. We hope to meet the expectations of people with ATAL.”

ATAL is produced by Vinod Bhanushali, Sandeep Singh, Sam Khan and Kamlesh Bhanushali with 70MM Talkies and co-produced by Zeeshan Ahmed and Shiv Sharma. Bhanushali said that the team felt that Tripathi was the perfect choice for the role of Vajpayee. He said: “I am very happy to work with one of the best actors in India, Pankaj Tripathi. We also have a wonderful director, Ravi Ji, who we are sure will bring in our producer, Sandeep Singh.”

The team stated that the film will release on Christmas Day 2023, which also coincides with Vajpayee’s 99th birthday. Atal is supported by Bhanushali Studios Ltd and Legend Studios.