The Privileges of NSD

We underestimate the educational architecture that has been built in the country over the years. At minimal cost, premier national institutions, whether it is the National School of Drama (NSD) or Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), create cultural superstars, exposing bright young minds to ideas they may not otherwise encounter. It takes the rise of actors like Durgesh Kumar to highlight their contribution. The actor who was first noticed in Season 1 of Prime Video’s Panchayat as Banrakas has slowly seen an accretion over the years and in Season 3 he delivers a flawlessly funny performance as the permanent observer and troublemaker. His favourite pastime is to make chewing tobacco for his friend, while telling him: Dekh raha hai, Binod? Binod is played by Ashok Pathak. He also plays the part of Radhika Apte’s hapless, alcoholic husband in Karan Kandhari’s Sister Midnight, which was screened at the Director’s Fortnight in the Cannes Film Festival. Durgesh, from Motipur in Darbhanga, Bihar, says his village is full of characters who seem to be from Panchayat. As a young man, he came to Delhi to study engineering but gave that up to become an actor, eventually doing a postgraduate diploma from NSD. “It was a wonderful time, as one could think about acting 365 days into 24 hours. We were taught by giants such as Abhilash Pillai, Anuradha Kapur and our guru Robin Das,” he says. “They taught us to be free birds,” he says. Durgesh spent 10 years in the Mumbai film industry doing small roles before finally making it big with Panchayat Season 2 and in Laapataa Ladies earlier this year where he played Dubeyji, Ravi Kishan’s sidekick and chief conspirator. “Mumbai is like a reality check for all actors,” says Durgesh.

IIT’s Hindi Theatre

Jitendra Kumar may not have become an engineer after studying at IIT Kharagpur, but it gave him an insight into a kind of life he could have never imagined in his hometown of Khairthal, Rajasthan, where his father was an assistant PWD engineer. The opportunity to do Hindi theatre got him a comedic part in Aala Afsar, the farce by Mudrarakshas, for which he got a lot of praise. “Once you get feedback for something like that, it never leaves you,” says the man popularly known as Jeetu Bhaiya, after his YouTube sketches for The Viral Fever (TVF) channel and in the series Kota Factory. Jitendra has seen the early years of the YouTube boom, when parodying newscasters and politicians yielded great views—till news itself became a parody and therefore beyond ridicule. The first time Jitendra realised he was some sort of a star was when he shot a YouTube skit, Har Ek Friend Zaroori Nahin Hota Hai. “It got 10,000 views which were not much for TVF but a lot for me,” he recalls. Now a star of movies and streaming, Jitendra maintains a low profile, spending time at home to relax. “I spend 10- 15 days in my village. It is enough to rejuvenate me.”

Twin Wins

The Laapataa Ladies alumni are going places. Chhaya Kadam, who played the role of Manju, and who wowed audiences of Marathi cinema with sterling performances in Fandry (2013) and Nude (2018), was one of stars of the Cannes Film Festival with not one but two films. Apart from her stirring Parvati who goes back to her hometown of Ratnagiri in Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light, which won the Grand Prix at Cannes this year, she is also in Karan Kandhari’s feral comedy Sister Midnight. Kadam, with her powerful patriarchy-busting performances, is the daughter of a mill worker from Mumbai and knows the city in her bones. Kadam is one of many actors from so-called regional cinema who are finding space in mainstream and indie cinema. Kadam was also recently seen in the comedic hit, Madgaon Express. Will international attention also give actors like her a global arena to play in? It is quite possible. Apte, for instance, is now increasingly being seen in global productions. After Sister Midnight, she is shooting for the movie adaptation of The Last Days of John Allen Chau by the journalist Alex Perry. This is the story of the missionary Chau, who believes he has been chosen to save the souls of the uncontacted tribe of North Sentinel Island. Designated as a protected site by the Indian government, John sets on a journey to proselytise the Sentinelese in his desperate search for identity, purpose, and belonging. No surprise that it is being shot in Thailand, not India.

BollywoodChhaya KadamcinemaDurgesh KumarJitendra Kumar