Panchayat Binod Shares His Struggles- ‘I Learned Acting by Selling Cotton On Streets – Read His Full Story

‘Acting Came from Selling Cotton’ – Do you remember Binod from the web series ‘Panchayat’? The one who wins everyone’s heart with his simple talks! The story of Ashok Pathak, who played this character that is making waves on social media today, is no less than a film script. Yes, Ashok Pathak tells that he climbed the first step of acting when he used to sell cotton!

“I think I learned acting while selling cotton, because to sell something you have to act,” Ashok Pathak, whom everyone knows today as Binod from ‘Panchayat’, says smilingly. The fourth season of ‘Panchayat’ has come and the fifth has also been announced, so Binod is once again in the news. But this identity of Ashok Pathak has not been created overnight.

Binod and Ashok: Same simplicity

Ashok Pathak tells that there are many similarities between his and Binod’s life. “I believe that life should be simple, not too complicated. I try to maintain that simplicity and Vinod is also like that. Vinod is also simple and he speaks straight forward,” he says. This simplicity of his is probably what connects the audience to Vinod.

Start of film journey from Faridabad

Ashok’s parents, who belong to Siwan district of Bihar, came to Faridabad in Haryana in search of a better life. His father was not very educated, so initially he faced a lot of difficulties in getting work. He worked as a helper and fireman, but he had only one dream – his children should study and become something.

But Ashok never felt like studying. He found the school syllabus very boring. Being the eldest in the family, there were more expectations from him, and he was also aware of this. But studies can only be done if the heart is interested in them!

Selling cotton and the first lesson in acting

Once when his brother started falling ill, Ashok thought of helping at home. He decided to earn money and started selling cotton with a relative. It was here that he learned his first lesson in ‘acting’.

“I had to sell cotton, so I had to do different types of acting to convince people. Many times people would buy my clothes out of pity after seeing my condition,” he says laughing.

In a conversation with BBC Hindi, Ashok Pathak told an interesting thing, “Many parents advise their children – ‘Don’t get into that company, otherwise you will be ruined.’ Actually, I was the kind of child, from whose company other parents wanted to keep their children away. My father used to get hurt by this.”

“But the feelings inside me kept me safe. I used to see my father’s hard work, I used to see the condition of my family. I kept on selling cotton.”

Passion for cinema and father’s beating

Selling cotton was hard work, but the money opened up a new path – cinema! With this money, Ashok Pathak started going to the cinema to watch movies. In this process, he was scolded and beaten by his father many times, but he did not give up his passion for cinema.

Relation with studies and turning point

Ashok somehow passed 12th, but he did not understand what to do next. He had no desire to study further, but on the persuasion of his friends, he took admission in graduation.

He says that this decision proved to be the biggest turning point of his life. While preparing for a play in college, he started reading literary books. Remembering those days, he says, “I felt that this is what I wanted to study. I started spending hours in the library.”

Journey to the city of dreams

“After the play, I thought of acting, but I didn’t want to just get up and go to Mumbai. I wanted to prepare for it,” he says. His dream was to get admission in Delhi’s National School of Drama (NSD), but this is a regret that still remains with him. “Even after trying twice, I couldn’t get admission there, and slowly I started feeling that nothing could happen to me,” he says.

Frustrated, he started working once again, but his heart was stuck somewhere in cinema. His family always encouraged him, but many people would say, “Your looks are not like a hero, who will give you work there.” But a dream is a dream!

After this, making one last attempt, he got admission in Lucknow’s Bharatendu Natya Academy. After completing his studies, he moved to Mumbai – the city of dreams and today Ashok Pathak has made his mark in every household as Vinod from ‘Panchayat’.

Ashok Pathak’s story teaches us that all that is needed to dream and achieve them is dedication and hard work. Appearance or initial difficulties can never become a hindrance in the way!