Panchayat actor Jitendra Kumar: I wanted to get admission in IIT Delhi
Actor Jitendra Kumar talks about his dram soc days in college, love for Delhi's street food, and long-lost aspiration of getting admission in IIT-Delhi.
He doesn’t just lend advice to young engineers and aspirants onscreen, in the web-series Kota Factory, but also off-screen. Actor Jitendra Kumar recently visited Delhi Technological University (DTU), and previously has also been to Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi to share his words of wisdom with the young guns. But not many know that the 33-year-old, who is the talk of town for his latest love-hate relationship with lauki (bottle gourd) courtesy the web series Panchayat, had actually found his first love in aerospace engineering!
#CampusKeDin
Hailing from Khairthal (Rajasthan), back in his student days he would regularly visit Delhi and catch most of his trains and flights from the Capital. But before getting admission, he did wish to crack the exam and make it to the coveted IIT Delhi. “Shuru shuru mein mujhe lagta tha ki IIT Delhi mein admission mil jaye toh achha hai. Par mujhe aerospace engineering karni thi and that was available only in four IITs — Kharagpur, Kanpur, Madras and Bombay — uss chakkar mein mera Delhi reh gaya,” recalls Kumar who is an alum of IIT Kharagpur, sheepishly adding, “(Admission) hua mera civil engineering mein. Now one can change the branch if it’s offered by the college. But branch change karne ke liye bhi first year mein mehnat karni hoti hai, woh maine kari nahi!”
Though he couldn’t change his engineering stream, but soon stumbled upon the Hindi Dramatics Society in his college. “There we used to enact plays adapted from the writings of Rabindranath Tagore, Vijay Tendulkar and Mahesh Dattani... While performing, and also during college placements, I was in Delhi but didn’t get a job. So when one of my college friends suggested me to shift to Mumbai, I decided to make a move and tab acting ka passion aaya.”
Virat Kohli wale chhole bhature
On his recent visit to the Capital, he couldn’t help but give in to his food cravings such as chhole kulche. “Dilli toh hamesha achha rehta hi hai, mujhe kaafi pasand hai. Haan, aur yahan ka khana toh best hai hi,” says the Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan (2020) actor, while talking about his ardent desire to devour cricketer Virat Kohli’s fave chhole bhature. “Woh haina Rajouri Garden mein Rama Chole Bhature. Woh (try karna) reh gaya iss baar, but I’ll have it next time for sure,” he exclaims, adding, “Iss baar toh Dilli ki garmi bhi experience kar li. Usually we only read about it in the news but being here and seeing it was a totally different experience. I’m not used to this at all.”
Jeetu bhaiyya IRL
Having studied in Kota (Rajasthan) while prepping for his IIT admission, the actor had himself found several teachers who became his guide and mentor. “They were personally invested in me and all of us, who had gone there to prepare for IIT. Jaise mera character hai Jeetu Bhaiyya ka Kota Factory mein, waise hi... Of course in those days it wasn’t possible for teachers in Kota to take such an interest in each and every aspirants personal stories. But that has changed post this character, I feel. I, however, had found teachers who inspired me and woh bahut mehnat karate thay. Unki dedication dikhti thi. That really helps an aspirant, and as an actor to be able to show this universal experience was possible only by capturing that sentiment,” he adds.
Low-key enjoying lauki
The humble lauki’s central presence in the theme of OTT series Panchayat makes Kumar feel humbled at the eagle-eyed fans who are digging into the minutest detail even if it’s only to memefy it. “The way people watch the show, and catch the smallest scene or detail to make reels and memes about it is very interesting. As for me, the truth is that I don’t hate lauki (laughs)! Sach bataun toh mere ghar mein har chauthe-panchve din lauki ban hi jaati hai (To be honest, bottle guard is cooked at my home almost every fourth or fifth day). Par haan, it nevet happened ki koi lauki khila de specially, at a party. Ab aage pata nahi, maybe ho jaye (laughs),” he concludes.
