Shankar Tripathi

Physical Appearance
Shankar Tripathi is five feet eight inches tall with a greying, also slowly balding head with a practically nonexistent hairline and glasses that don't help him see the light until the very end of the movie. He dresses like a politician. Nobody really knows why. Gives off very intense Dad energy. Which means he doesn't really get his son and pretends he does.

Personality
Shankar Tripathi is the type of person who likes to be in control, even in situations where it's more prudent to let go and accept that there are some things that go against what he's grown up believing in. He likes being the one In Charge, though let's be real we all know that's actually sunaina (he knows it too, he just doesn't want to accept it), While fundamentally smart, what with being an accomplished bioengineer and all, Shankar's fatal flaw comes in the form of his willful ignorance. His inability to accept when he's in the wrong, often at the cost of the love he holds for his family. He takes great pride in his achievements, and may get defensive if they are attacked. He does indeed love his family, as evidenced by the speech he gices Aman in the end, but he doesn't show it much and may let his (wrong) judgement cloud that from time to time.

Early Life and Past
Shankar Tripathi is a victim of a lost love. He, at one point, was in love with a woman called Rani Asthana and aimed to elope with her atop a Yezdi bike. However, his ambitions remained incomplete as he was forced into an arranged marriage with Sunaina.

Shankar also had a troubled relationship with his father, as evidenced but his recollection of how his and Chaman's father, Dheenanath Tripathi, used to beat them.

Morals and Ideals
Shankar decides he believes in one thing and does it with all he has, never stops to see if it's actually right and healthy or fact check it. He's very rigid and defensive of whatever he thinks is correct.

He believes that humans are not placed into distinctions of "good" or "bad", they just are what you percieve them to be in the situations they are put in.

Abilities

 * battery power
 * Hate criming.
 * Vegetable mutating (unsuccessful).
 * His ability to shut down literally all of Allahabad with riots after one (1) failed vegetable experiment.
 * Pigeon catching
 * Bullying people
 * Making a surprised pikachu face
 * Kebab me haddi

Weaknesses

 * battery power
 * Homophobia. It's a very real disease
 * Boomer disease
 * Inability to handle or voice his emotions. Also a very real disease
 * Yezdi bikes
 * Gays

Character Development
Shankar Tripathi's character development is the most defined one of tall the characters, and quite undeniably the largest as well. He starts out the movie as the average homophobe, willfully ignorant of a very real, very valid minority of people. Shankar is meant to signify the homophobia prevalent in society, as evidenced by his unwillingness to learn from google, claiming he knows better than google simply because he has been around longer, and even resorting to destroying Keshav's tablet when the latter tries to explain homosexuality to him.

Shankar attempts to force Aman into a heterosexual marriage, threatening suicide unless his son complies with his wishes. Dear god.

Aman gives in, because he's soft and just wants to see his father happy, but that manipulation falls apart when Kartik comes to the rescue (STAN THIS MAN, HONESTLY) and clowns his way into stopping Aman's ridiculous "rebirth" ceremony as a heterosexual nerd named Chandravadhan. Shankar really likes controlling the aspects of people he doesn't understand.

Shankar then proceeds to carry out a hate crime on both Kartik Singh and Aman, beating Kartik with a staff until he falls to his knees, while Aman watches helplessly. The fact that this man's redemption seemed legit is only a testament to Hitesh Kewalya's incredible writing.

But the redemption does indeed come. He has a change of heart towards the end of the movie, when Kartik makes him realise there's only so much of life that's under his control, and his son's nature is not one of them. Shankar comes to realise he's been fighting a losing battle this entire time, and that his son's sexuality is not something that is to be repressed, but something to be accepted. He battles his own beliefs until the very end, where he's seen being unable to choose between standing up for someone he loves against the police, and sticking with his beliefs.

He comes around towards the climax of the movie, driving Kartik and Aman to the train station. He also gives aman a little speech about how Shankar will no longer interfere in his life, and how Aman should be allowed to be happy without having to confirm to the ridiculous norms society, and Shankar himself, had imposed on him. Shankar apologises, and gives Aman a hug.

No I'm not crying.

With Family
Shankar has a complicated relationship with his family. He appears to love Sunaina, though the two often fight and are at odds with one another about every other thing. They fight, but they also comfort each other under times of crisis. Shankar's relationship with Champa is also rather troubled. Chaman as well. Also Goggle, sort of. He bullies Keshav so much. Seriously why do they keep this man around.

His relationship with Chaman is by far the most questionable. The man really likes clowning on Chaman and yelling him down/controlling what he is and isn't allowed to do. He even banishes Chaman from his own daughter's wedding by deciding that escorting Kartik out of there was more important than Chaman being present while Goggle is married off. However, there is a pivotal point towards the end of the movie where Chaman takes a decision without Shankar's approval and defends Aman and Kartik, which is quite beautiful really.

With Aman
As of the end of the movie, Shankar's dwindling relationship with his son appears to have repaired itself to the extent that the two share a teary hug, and Shankar sends his son off with a smile and permission to go live his life as per what makes him happy. He's a valid dad. but only later, he's a bit of a dumpster fire throughout the movie.

With Kartik
relationship where

(jk, they hug it out)

Trivia

 * battery se chalte hain
 * routinely consumes Kaali Gobi, quite possibly the cause of his homophobia
 * can't even elope without messing that up smh
 * manipulative goblin
 * anti kartik singh
 * doesn't believe in ACAB
 * Threw a stone at a pigeon once
 * Threw insults at Kartik once
 * Threw Kaali Gobi at Kartik once
 * Threw Aman to the ground once
 * Threw his Kaali Gobi dreams out the window once
 * Threw up once
 * this man does a lot of throwing