MUMBAI: Indian actor Anupam Tripathi is gaining popularity for his performance in Netflix's survival drama "Squid Game".

The actor is basking in "people's love" for his performance as the soft-spoken and trusting migrant worker Ali Abdul. 

Tripathi remembers the brief given by director Hwang Dong-hyuk after he landed the part of Ali, a Pakistani factory labourer, who like the other 455 participants is reeling under debt and signs on to participate in a deadly survival competition based on Korean children's games after his employer refuses to pay him for months. "The director's brief was (to focus on) how he builds his relationships with people. He is someone who saves people. Even if he had a problem, he worked for people he trusted. With a simple gesture, somebody can make him feel 'you are my homie and all'," the actor told PTI in a roundtable interview on Zoom from Seoul.

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To look the part, New Delhi-born Tripathi said he worked hard on his physique and gained 6 kg. Squid Game has become a sort of introduction guide to Korean dramas, especially for the audiences in South East Asia who have criticised Ali's depiction as "servile" and "foolish" on social media. Some voices have also called out the show for taking an Indian actor to play the role of a Pakistani worker. To this, he said, “Through Ali, I was not thinking about these issues. I was only thinking about how as an actor I can deliver it, how I'll make the connection with the audience. I did not imagine even in my dreams that people would talk about my character. Whatever I'm doing, I can still make people connect to each other and have a conversation at least.” 

The actor’s previous works include hit TV shows like Descendants of the Sun, Hospital Playlist and Taxi Driver. His films include Space Sweepers and Ode to My Father.

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CREDIT: DNAINDIA