When you pass out from IIT, your engineering degree ensures a premium job in a multinational. Your life is considered ‘set’. It’s the epitome of the middle-class dream. But what if after achieving that, you decide to chuck it all and try your hand at acting. Your parents sure would go batshit crazy, your friends would care about your mental health and perhaps only your dog would still show signs of affection. That’s exactly what happened with Jitendra Kumar. He decided to carve out his own path and not get lost in the corporate jungle. He made a name for himself doing skits for TVF (The Viral Fever), where his take-offs on Kejriwal became famous. Hit shows like Kota Factory and Panchayat followed. He also played a homosexual in the comedy Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan. While his choices may have ruffled some feathers, the actor firmly believes in being his own man...

You are an IIT graduate from Kharagpur and you come from a family of civil engineers. You’ve also worked in a Japanese multinational. So how did you finally convince your family that you wanted to act?

My family thought I’d give it a shot for a year and then come back to corporate life. And when I left Mumbai after three months and joined a Japanese company in Bangalore, my parents thought I’d said goodbye to acting. It was when I left that job that they were alarmed. They started calling up relatives to give me a pep talk and drill some sense into me. I had to convince them that my heart was set on acting. I think parents get pressured by society. Otherwise, they have no problem with your choices. So when I was finally able to convince my relatives and family friends about my choices, my parents too came on board.

When you were struggling as an actor, you were also moonlighting as a teacher…

I came to Mumbai after graduating in 2012. I was told that I could face difficulties getting a break. I was advised to teach at coaching institutes while I struggled to get a break. Initially, I was scared because children are sensitive and education is a sensitive domain. I knew that acting couldn’t be cracked so soon. So I decided to teach. I drew out all my IIT JEE notes and started studying again. Eventually, I started teaching. So I used to teach the students in coaching institutes on Sundays. It was a very different experience for me.

Tell us an anecdote about your experience as a teacher.

A lot of funny incidents have happened. But there’s this one instance that remains with me forever. One video of mine where I acted as Munna Jazbati became popular. There’s a scene in that video where I’m seen sweeping the floor. A girl came to me and said, “Are you Munna Jazbati? Have you acted in that video?” I said yes and suddenly the girl had tears in her eyes. She told me, “Sir, please don’t do this. It feels very bad to see you like this.” mar

Your character Jeetu sir, from the Kota Factory, became hugely famous. People have started looking at you as a mentor in real life too.

I don’t know about how I became a mentor. But I think my character in the series connected with people. I think there’s a shortage of mentors in our country, so when they watch such movies or series which has mentors, they relate to it. So whether it’s Naseer saab in Sir, Shah Rukh Khan in Chak De! India, Me in Kota Factory, or Aamir Khan in Taare Zareen Par, the audience loves them.

Did you have a mentor in real life?

I could not have survived without a mentor. I need someone to push me, guide me how to work and explain to me how things have to be approached. If I talk about studies, I got some really good teachers who didn’t just help me with academics but helped me learn a lot of life lessons as well. Now that I am in the field of filmmaking, here also I have connected with a lot of people who act as mentors and guide me at every step.

From doing bit parts in your neighbourhood Ram Leela to doing plays in college and skits for TVF, when did you realise that acting is a serious business?

I shot for my first video on the very first day I reached Mumbai. I realised a lot of things on day one itself.
I realised that things are not so simple here. It’s not like doing regular plays on stage in college. What was a hobby earlier is not a hobby anymore, there is a limited time in which you have to complete things, In colleges it’s like “Aaj maza nahi aaya”, today’s rehearsals weren’t that enjoyable so director would say let’s rehearse again tomorrow. So things would get better in plays. But here things aren’t like that, here you get a moment and you have to do what you can in that moment.

Tell us about your first movie experience?

My first film was Chaman Bahar, which was released on Netflix. It was a nice experience. I played a paanwala who falls in love with a school girl and it’s one sided love initially. He continues doing things to win her over. I have personally gone through this so playing that character felt easy as I was aware of a lot of nuances.

You played a gay man in your next film. Have you understood the LGBTQ world better after doing a film like Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan?

During the shooting, we were only concentrating on our characters and hence didn’t realise the importance of what we were saying through the film. But after the film released, the kind of messages I received from people made me realise that there’s so much suffering regarding love. When I started receiving long messages where people narrated their stories, I realised being accepted as a queer was a big issue in India. I hope that Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan helped bring closure for those struggling to come out. And helped their families as well.

You come from a small town so was it a cultural shock playing a gay man?

Basically, our writer-director Hitesh Kewalya had a particular image of the characters played by me and Ayushmann Khurrana. So our focus was on craft. We didn’t focus on the fact that it is a story about homosexuals. Many people questioned me about that kiss. But it came out so smoothly that I didn’t pay attention to it. The crew made a comfortable environment for us to shoot the scene, and before we realised it, it was over.

In both Panchayat and Shubh Mangal... you played an angry young man. Are you like that in real life too?

I laugh in every kind of situation in real life. But you channel anger and portray irritation very well…(Laughs) My director in Shubh Mangal..., Hitesh Kewalya, told me that you look funny when you are angry. A person tends to laugh while watching your angry face. I feel that if there’s a need to get angry in a scene, I portray anger. If people find it funny, as Hitesh says, that’s good too, as it helps draw in the audience.

Did you get intimidated by the fact you were working with stalwarts like Raghubir Yadav and Neena Gupta in Panchayat?

I enjoyed it a lot. I am very lucky too that both of them showered so much love on me. Raghu sir was an inspiration for acting since the beginning and Neena ma’am too was affectionate towards me.
I thought they would scold me but they were always so loving, even when they offered suggestions they never pulled rank.

Do you feel any difference in the three mediums – theatre, TV and films?

Theatre is different. I think there’s a difference in the environment. If five people are laughing in the theatre, the rest will also laugh along with them. If we are making something for the small screen, a lot of things should be relatable. A single moment cannot remain dull. Because you’re not doing it for a live audience. You’re making it for someone with a remote who can change channels the moment he feels disconnected. So the makers, in particular, have to be aware of that. Actors don’t need to be aware of the difference to a great extent. They just have to follow the instructions of the director in all three mediums.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui said that he is going out of OTT because there are so many proposal makers and too many ‘jugaads’...

Yes, I have been there since the start. So I too have this feeling that a day will come when there will be too much content and only a few things will be actually good and relatable. I think that’s the reason why Nawaz sir is saying, “Arey ye to dhandha hi ban gya hai”. (This has become a money-making concern). You have to be aware of it and not fall in the trap and when the time is right, you should opt out of it, when you can’t take it any more. More on: Jitendra Kumar

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