When I got work in a film, I was fired from my repertory job: After ‘Highway’, I did not get work for three years, Durgesh said- Casting directors did not trust me

After playing small roles in films like ‘Why Cheat India’, ‘Sultan’, ‘Sanju’ and ‘Dil Bechara’, actor Durgesh Kumar gained immense popularity through the Panchayat series. In this, the character of Bhushan aka Banarakas became so popular that many memes were made of it. Panchayat Season 3 is going to stream on Prime Video from May 28.

Recently, Durgesh Kumar told Dainik Bhaskar that he did not want to become an actor. He did theatre for personality development. When he got work in Imtiaz Ali’s film ‘Highway’, he was fired from his repertory job.

How did you get associated with the Panchayat series and how did your character progress?

Navneet Raga, the assistant casting director of this series, had first called me for the role of a photographer. But the role of the photographer was given to someone else and I was given a scene involving piles in the first season. When the second season was about to start, Vinod’s character was being introduced.

Mahadev Lakhawat was preparing the audition for this character and I was helping him in the audition. Chief Casting Director Gulshan ji told me why are you helping someone, you have got a big role. I shot for 20 days for the second season. Now the third season is about to come, this time the character is very interesting.

Now the expectations of the audience must have increased even more. How much preparation did you have to do for the character in season 3?

I believe in writers a lot. The writer of this show, Chandan Kumar, is the best writer. He gives a graph in the script, which you just have to follow. You have to be natural. This is our task. The director of the show, Deepak Mishra, always suggests that you act naturally. Don’t suddenly start speaking pure Hindi. Because even today pure Hindi is not spoken in our rural areas. We have to take care of such things.

This was about your character Bhushan, Durgesh Kumar i.e. When did you feel that you wanted to enter the industry?

I never wanted to become an actor. My father Dr. Harikrishna Choudhary has been a professor of commerce at CM Art College, Darbhanga, Bihar. I studied Intermediate in Science Mathematics from CM Science College, Darbhanga. Meanwhile, my elder brother Dr. Shivshakti Choudhary had come to Delhi to prepare for UPSC. I came to Delhi on 9 December 2001 after giving the Intermediate exam.

Everyone in my family is shy. If my father lends 10 thousand rupees to someone, he has a problem asking for it back. My brother and I also had the same behaviour. My brother made me join theatre for personality development so that I could speak. If you have to survive in society, you have to be a little crooked.

During theatre, you developed an inclination towards acting and then you thought of making a career in films?

I never thought of acting in films. I kept doing theatre in Delhi and after graduation, I joined NSD in 2008. After that I got a repertory job in NSD. That is a six-year job. You get to do new plays every day. You become very strong in that.

I never thought that I would go to Mumbai and do acting. I thought that after doing a repertory job, I would teach in a drama school in Gurugram or Delhi. During this time, one of my friends Akash Bardas called me for an audition for director Rajkumar Hirani’s film ‘PK’.

That means your acting career in films started with director Rajkumar Hirani’s film ‘PK’?

No, I was not selected for ‘PK’. I had auditioned for the locket snatching scene for that film. But I was too young for that role. That role was given to Rajendra Singh Nanu, who was senior to me in theatre. Meanwhile, I was selected for Imtiaz Ali’s film ‘Highway’.

I shot for this film for 45 days from Gurugram to Jammu and Kashmir. Because of working in this film, I was removed from the repertory. Now there was nothing left for me in Delhi. My brother suggested that you have already done theatre and films, now go to Mumbai and try acting. I came to Mumbai on 7 November 2013.

But why were you removed from the repertory?

National School of Drama is a very pure institute. It has its own rules and regulations. A person acts for 365 days. The government pays you for repertory for three years. If you do a film during that time, it becomes an indiscipline. That is why I was expelled. I respect this. But I felt bad at that time because a government job was lost.

Well, when you came to Mumbai, how much benefit did you get from working in theatre and Imtiaz Ali’s film ‘Highway’?

After coming to Mumbai, I was not very active for three years. My first film ‘Highway’ was released on 21 February 2014. People praised it a lot. My work was highly appreciated. But the casting directors were not able to trust me that much. I kept meeting all the big casting directors.

In 2016, casting director Mukesh Chhabra cast me in a small role in director Sohail Khan’s film ‘Freaky Ali’. During the same time, I got Yash Raj Films’ ‘Sultan’, in which I had a commentary role. In this way, the series gradually moved forward.

After coming to Mumbai from Delhi, when there was no work for three years, how did you survive during that time?

I had the money for repertory. Well, I will tell you honestly that I am not from a poor family. My father Dr. Harikrishna Chaudhary has been a professor of commerce in CM Art College, Darbhanga, Bihar. My brother is a chemistry teacher. My financial condition has never been bad, but when there is no work, there is tension.

People in the industry have a different viewpoint about actors coming from outside. Have you ever faced such a problem?

We haven’t entered that circle yet. We are still at a very low level. I have never faced all this. I understand only one thing that you should keep practicing. If you keep practicing, the audition will be good. If you don’t practice, you won’t get a good audition. You will get good work through good auditions.

I got three big projects in my life. Panchayat, Shahrukh Khan’s production ‘Bhakshak’ and Aamir Khan’s production ‘Laapta Ladies’. Today all the big casting directors give me work.