This IITian quit a high-paying job to become an actor, left Mumbai after failure, now stars in a ₹270 cr hit
Here's the latest update from the Bollywood world:
The debate around nepotism in the movie industry keeps coming up, but Bollywood has also seen outsiders carve their own path and build a place for themselves without any family connections. Jitendra Kumar is one such example. The star, currently seen as Bablu Pandit in Mirzapur : The Movie, was a bright student who graduated from IIT Kharagpur before giving up a corporate career to pursue his long-standing dream of becoming an star.
Adding to this, Jitendra Kumar stars in Mirapur: The Movie. From making people laugh in TVF's early YouTube videos to becoming one of the most recognisable faces of the OTT boom and eventually making his mark in films, Jitendra's journey has been anything but conventional. So, how did an IITian turn into ' Jeetu Bhaiya ' and eventually make his way to the big screen? Let's take a look.
Meanwhile, Jitendra comes from Khairthal, a small town in Rajasthan. Since he was good at studies, his parents decided to send him to Kota for IIT coaching. During his school days, Jitendra used to participate in plays, but his interest in theatre developed seriously after he got admission to IIT Kharagpur. There, he became actively involved in theatre and the Hindi Technology Dramatics Society.
Notably, It was at IIT that he met Biswapati Sarkar, who later became an Executive Creative Director and writer at The Widely shared Fever (TVF). Sarkar recognised Jitendra's acting ability and invited him to join TVF in 2012. Right after college, Jitendra moved to Mumbai and shot his first short-form video with TVF. In a recent interaction with IVM Pop, Jitendra shared that his first video did not even get 10,000 views on YouTube.
As per the latest buzz, Jitendra struggled during his initial days at TVF. He opened up that he worked as an assistant director and, when his second video failed to garner any views, he decided to leave Mumbai.
In further updates, He got a job in Bengaluru through a friend and worked there for nine months. While Jitendra found himself stuck in this joyless corporate job, Biswapati called and informed him that his second video had gone widely shared. That video was -- Munna Jazbaati: The Q-tiya Intern. It became Jitendra Kumar's early breakthrough in 2013. The video as per reports crossed 3 million views, putting him on the map as a new internet performer.
On top of that, This pushed Jitendra to leave his high-paying job and return to acting. He went on to star in several popular TVF videos and sketches, including Tech Conversations With Dad, A Day With and TVF Bachelors. Jitendra became known for playing relatable, slightly confused and everyday Indian characters that audiences couldn't get enough of.
In 2014, Jitendra moved from short YouTube sketches to longer-form digital storytelling with TVF's Permanent Roommates. He played Prathik in the popular YouTube show, which established him as one of the recognisable faces of India's emerging digital entertainment space. For the unversed, Permanent Roommates is considered one of India's first major web series and arrived well before mainstream OTT platforms took over the market.
Source: Hindustan Times