A look into the struggle story of Jitendra Kumar, aka 'Jeetu Bhaiya', who is one of the biggest stars in the OTT space.
Jitendra Kumar was born on September 1, 1990, into a family of engineers in Rajasthan's Khairthal. Right from an early age, he used to mimic a lot of famous Bollywood celebrities, but it was Shah Rukh Khan, whom he adored the most. As he grew up, he followed in his family's footsteps and pursued B.Tech in Civil Engineering from IIT Kharagpur. During his college days, Jitendra did a lot of stage plays and was also a part of the Hindu Technology Dramatics Society.
It was where Jitendra Kumar met Biswapati Sarkar, which changed the former's life upside down as they went on a successful content creation journey at TVF (The Viral Fever). Jitendra Kumar joined TVF in 2012, and in the year 2013, he was seen in the video, Munna Jazbaati: The Q-tiya Intern, which went viral on the internet. The video crossed 3 million videos, and what followed was a series of YouTube videos that made Jitendra a recognised face across the internet.
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After creating a series of YouTube sketches, Jitendra Kumar's career took a major rise when he appeared in a series of TVF productions, Permanent Roommates, TVF Pitchers, TVF Bachelors, Bisht, Please!, F.A.T.H.E.R.S., Mr. & Mrs., ImMature, TVF Tripling, Humorously Yours, and many more. However, it was TVF's Kota Factory that cemented Jitendra's status as one of the best actors in the country. He portrayed the character of an IIT coaching instructor, 'Jeetu Bhaiya', who created a stir on social media.
The character of 'Jeetu Bhaiya' made a special place in the hearts of millions of students from the engineering background. After the gigantic success of Kota Factory in 2019, Jitendra Kumar portrayed the character of a Gram Panchayat secretary, 'Abhishek Tripathi', in the web series, Panchayat. The web series received a lot of love from critics and audiences across the nation. The web series received a lot of awards for its storyline, and Jitendra caught the eye of Bollywood producers and filmmakers. Jitendra also won the Best Actor in a Series (Male) at the 2022 Filmfare OTT Awards.
On one side, while Jitendra Kumar was becoming one of the most notable actors in the OTT space, he made his mark in Bollywood when he appeared opposite Ayushmann Khurrana in Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan. He got his first solo film, Jaadugar in 2022, which was released on Netflix and received a lot of love from the audience. Fast-forward to 2024, and Jitendra once again broke the headlines after the release of Panchayat 3.
There's no denying the fact that Jitender Kumar is riding high on the professional front, but there was a time when he left acing. Yes! You read it right. Back in 2012, when Jitender came to Mumbai in search of work in films, he wasn't getting a lot of acting gigs for a long time, which frustrated him to the extent that he quit acting.
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Jitender Kumar applied for a job in a renowned multinational construction company and started his career as a civil engineer. However, the success of Jitender's YouTube video, Munna Jazbati, made him famous, and he started receiving a lot of work projects. It was when Jitender left his job and returned to Mumbai to start working as an actor with TVF.
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According to a report on India.com, Jitender Kumar even applied at the National School of Drama (NSD) but was rejected. However, he didn't quit dreaming and kept on working on his acting. As a result, he is one of the highest-paid actors in the OTT space today. According to a report in ABP Live, Jitender charged a sum of Rs. 70,000 per episode to portray the role of 'Abhishek Tripathi' in Panchayat 3. The second instalment of the critically acclaimed web series has eight episodes, which takes Jitender's total fee to Rs. 5,60,000.
Despite being such a popular actor, Jitender Kumar prefers to live a quiet life away from the media spotlight. Although he is on Instagram and has a massive fanbase of 1.6 million followers, but most of his posts are related to the promotion of his films and web series. The actor rarely shares snippets from his personal life on his Instagram handle. Talking about Jitender's relationship status, he is happily single at the age of 33. Over the years, he has been linked with his female co-stars, but none of them were true. The actor is currently focused on his acting career and continues to stun people with his acting performances.
What are your thoughts on Jitendra Kumar's career trajectory, from a YouTube star to one of OTT's notable actors and entry in Bollywood? Let us know.
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