Jitendra Kumar is one of the famous Indian actors on YouTube. He has gained recognition for his roles as Jeetu, Munna Jazbaati and Arjun Kejriwal on comedy sketch- The Viral Fever.
Most of us have watched and enjoyed his comedy performances, but little is known about Jitendra Kumar’s journey to popularity. A millennial icon, Kumar is as modest as it gets.
Here is all you need to know about Jitendra Kumar before he became ‘The Jitendra Kumar.’
The Birth of An Entertainer
Kumar grew up in Khairthal, Rajasthan. He always had a thing for mimicry and copied Bollywood actors like Nana Patekar and Amitabh Bachchan. He caught onto to people’s body language and tone real quick, making him a talented mimic.
An IITian
A graduate with a degree in civil engineering from IIT Kharagpur, Kumar confirmed that he couldn’t genuinely imagine himself as an engineer. Although, the shift in career inclination wasn’t easy at all. Jitendra never saw any future in acting unless one day his seniors in college pushed him to perform an ad-lib English elocution act.
The “Babu Saheb” Among Friends
According to his college friends, he was very lazy in his college days and he never woke up before noon. He was extremely fashion conscious even at that time and image conscious as well. In an interview with Zoom channel, Biswapati Sarkar, the creative director of The Viral Fever revealed that he is still same. They camm him the “Kunwar Sa” (Prince) of The Viral Fever.
From Engineering To Acting
He was supposed to deliver Al Pacino’s lines from The Scent of A Women (1992). Though Kumar had a rough history with English, he somehow performed the act, which impressed his seniors a lot. Consequently, his seniors referred him to the Hindi drama society where he finally met Biswapati Sarkar, who would later invite him to TVF. Jitendra has also won many prizes in Hindi elocution.
How It Started
Biswapati Sarkar, who is the creative director at TVF, asked Jitu to try acting for TVF and that if it appeals to him, he could continue. Evidently, his acting has appealed both Kumar himself and his wide range of fans. Bisu and Kumar share a very sweet relation where Bisu being his senior keeps pulling his leg.
Like any other typical Indian engineer’s family, Jitendra Kumar’s family was unsure about his decision to pursue acting. But after receiving such an overwhelming response for his acting in Permanent Roommates, Tech conversations, Munna Jazbaati and TVF Pitchers, Kumar has proved his decision as correct.
Face to Face With Arvind Kejriwal
3 years ago, Jitendra Kumar mimicked Arvind Kejriwal in a TVF video named “Bollywood Aam Aadmi Party: Arnub Qtiyapa”. This video was highly appreciated and gathered 6.1 million views on YouTube.
After one year, the CM of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal himself was invited for the episode of ‘Barely Talking with Arnub‘. Quite interestingly, Jitendra Kumar mimicked Kejriwal again in front of him under the impression of Arjun Kejriwal. He put a confident show and ultimately won the appraisal of Kejriwal himself.
The Humble Personality
Kumar, amongst his fans, has an image of a very humble person. Many of his fans have recounted stories where they would randomly come across him and Kumar would act like it’s no big deal.
He is easy to approach and makes it a point to answer whatever his fans wish to know about him. As far as acting is concerned, he is versatile and does justice to the characters he is assigned.
Notable Performances
Munna Jazbaati: The Q-tiya Intern
Munna Jazbaati, as is clear by the name, is an extremely emotional person and somewhat stupid. He gets selected for an internship where he is very much touched by his boss’s little kind gestures. He promises his boss to perform well so as to prove himself but he goes a little overboard with his dedication. You have to watch this hilarious video to appreciate the naivety of the character played so gracefully by Kumar. This video has crossed 2 million views and is one of the highly appreciated performances by Kumar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y1EDc9i0oA&t=6s
Ek Thi Behen: Rakhi Qtiyapa:
This episode has around 2 million views and I would rather not ruin its suspense. In this series, Kumar plays the role of a very sweet and helpful guy. But suddenly his life has turned scary after offering shelter to one of his female office colleagues. You ought to watch this amazingly humorous video to figure it out. We promise you will love it.
As Jitu in TVF Pitchers
TVF Pitchers is one of the most successful web-series of India. It has whopping 9.4/10 ratings with 34,698 votes and currently ranked #38 in the Top 250 TV on IMDB. Kumar’s character “Jitu” is one of the most loved characters of this series. His dialogue “Gunday nahi, entrepreneur hain be**chod!” still gives goosebumps.
Other Works
Apart from working in web series like Permanent Roommates and TVF Pitchers, Kumar has worked in the movie ‘A Wednesday’ and feature film ‘Shuruat Ka Interval.‘
Social Media Fan Base
Jitendra Kumar has a Facebook page with around 40,000 followers. You can follow him here. Jitendra joined Twitter in April 2010 and has 26.9k followers. Funnily, his twitter handle is @Farjigulzar. His Instagram account has 67.6k followers. Check out his feed here.
A Blabbermouth
According to one of Kumar’s college roommates, he is a blabbermouth, and he can go on with his stories forever. His story-telling skills are excellent and one would never get bored around him.
In response to a question on Quora about his real life, for which he himself took out the time to reply, he explained how many people have taunted him for being too emotional. He admits being compared to girls for being emotional. He said that he particularly hates the association of certain behavioral pattern with a certain gender as it is sexist.
He said that a lot of people have also called him shy, but he would rather believe himself to be dumb. He says that he tries to act smart around intelligent people and also gets away with it because of his awesome acting skills.
Farzi Gulzar & Other Interests
Although, Kumar didn’t pursue engineering, but in fact, he is a very smart guy. He is a huge fan of Shahrukh Khan and can watch his movies 100 times over. Dilip Kumar is his another favorite. He reads Gulzar’s works among other things. In fact, Kumar’s Twitter handle is called @Farjigulzar which expresses his love for Gulzar.
Kumar has earned himself a place in people’s heart with his acting skills at such a young age. We would love to know which performance of Kumar’s is your favorite. Comment below. 😀