Squid Game star, Delhi’s Anupam Tripathi wants to perform in front of ‘own audience’ in India

Anupam Tripathi is still collecting applause for his performance in South Korean series, Squid Game on Netflix. The actor, who grew up in Delhi, has expressed a desire to perform in front of his home audience. 

Anupam plays Ali Abdul, a debt-ridden Pakistani migrant, who takes part in deadly Korean games.

Anupam says he landed the role soon after his return to South Korea after a break in India. The actor, whose character required him to look powerful, gained 5-6 kilograms with some help from a friend. He told Variety,  “At that time I didn’t have the correct body shape because I had just come back after eating home food, and once they said, ‘OK you are doing this character,’ I was like OK now I have to put on weight, I have to work for it.”

Anupam was thinking of studying at the National School of Drama when he won a scholarship to study at the Korea National University of the Arts in 2010. Prior to bagging a role in Squid Game, he had played small roles in South Korean dramas, including Descendants of The Sun.

The actor now wishes to perform in India. “I’ve done theater only in India, but I want to see and explore how I will do in my own language,” said Tripathi. “I would love to express myself there. That is my ultimate dream – to perform in front of my own home and own audience,” he said. 

Also read: Squid Game: From Jung Ho-yeon’s North Korean accent to foreshadowed deaths, 5 details you didn’t notice in Netflix show

Squid Game is a nine-episode series that revolves around 450-odd contestants playing to win a jackpot. The ones who fail to win, die. However, a portion of the Indian audience likened the survival game series to the 2009 Bollywood film Luck. It had Sanjay Dutt, Imran Khan and Shruti Haasan in lead roles.