Mumbai, Sep 10 (IANS): Jitendra Kumar reflected on his unexpected journey that made him an actor.

Speaking with Gopal Dutt on Pehla Pehla, the 'Panchayat' actor recalled his first performance during his school days, when he essayed the role of Tadaka. He added that during that time, he could not have even imagined a career in acting.

“I think my first acting experience was when I played Tadaka in a school Ramayana. At that time, there was no thought that this could become something I would do professionally. It was just a school performance,” Jitendra recalled.

However, once school was finished, Jitendra shared that his focus shifted completely towards academics. He shifted to Kota to prepare for the IIT entrance examination and eventually bagged a seat in IIT Kharagpur.

However, this new campus life came with its own set of challenges.

Jitendra admitted that he was extremely conscious of the fact that everyone around him spoke fluent English.

“When I went to IIT Kharagpur, English was something I struggled with. I was conscious of it because suddenly you are in an environment where everyone is speaking English, and you feel that you are behind,” he added.

He ended up discovering theatre and participated in various competitions. This was the first time he ever thought about acting as a possible career.

“At IIT, I discovered theatre almost by accident. I started participating in competitions, and every time I performed, I felt there was something about this that I really enjoyed. That was probably the first time I started thinking that maybe acting could actually be something for me,” he says.

Work-wise, Jitendra was recently seen playing Bablu Pandit in the film adaptation of the popular franchise, 'Mirzapur'. It must be noted that Jitendra was not a part of the famous web series.

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This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.