Squid Game’s Anupam Tripathi Talks About How He Prepared For The Series!
Anupam Tripathi along with the rest of the cast has officially broken the world internet in Netflix’s current favorite “Squid Game”
Anupam plays Ali Abdul; a Pakistan migrant to Korea and is one of the many “deep-in-debt” people in the deadly contest. Anupam was extremely pleased about the show’s success while talking to Variety. He said, “We felt that it will be received well, but when it became a phenomenon and sensation, it was not expected – I was not prepared.” He went on to add, “I enjoyed every bit of it because in going in front of the audience and expressing myself – it was so fascinating to become somebody and then again become myself.”
The actor wanted to initially apply at India’s National School of Drama which has produced brilliant actors. However, a friend told him about the Korea National University of Arts and the Arts Major Asian scholarship and he went on to pass the entrance and join in 2010 with a scholarship.
He managed to master Korean in less than 2 years!
When he got the role, he had put on weight and had to lose at least 5-6 kgs to look like his character considering, Ali’s physical strength is an important element of his character in “Squid Game.” He watched many Youtube videos and BBC documentaries about Pakistani migrants and even spent time with his Pakistani friends in Korea to catch some Urdu diction.
The actor reveals that he tried his best to get close to the character considering the series was set to release in 190 countries and he needed to connect with the audiences as a character.
Anupam shot for Squid Game from June 2020 to October 2020 with a month of a break due to covid. He was in all praises for the team he worked with and said “The sets are majestic, magical – you go there, you become the character. That’s the kind of stage they have created. It helped everybody to evolve better. It was not that easy a process. But everybody was together. Ali came out from there and now everybody’s talking about it. I feel happy.”
He is hopeful for season 2 since everyone is loving it but stressed the fact that in the end, it depends on the production, writer, and directors! The actor is looking forward to doing more work in Korea and India. He says it is his dream to perform in front of his own home and audience.
Source: Variety
