The new season of Panchayat is now streaming on Prime Video, bringing attention back to its cast, including Durgesh Kumar. Originally from Bihar’s Darbhanga, Durgesh plays Bhushan in the series alongside Jitendra Kumar and Neena Gupta. Despite gaining fame, Durgesh faced struggles, and revealed in a new interview that he battled depression.
Durgesh Kumar, whose debut film was Imtiaz Ali’s 2014 Highway starring Randeep Hooda and Alia Bhatt, had to act in soft porn for survival. He said, “I can’t live without acting. I did any work that came my way because I was confident in my abilities.”
He added that his friends teased him for falling to people’s feet, but he was determined to succeed. “This is the kind of struggle and dedication it takes to survive in the industry. It feels embarrassing to go out for random auditions after having worked in films, especially after the casting directors recognise you. I just had one day’s role in Panchayat season 1. I shot for just 2.5 hours. I am really thankful to Chandan Kumar and Deepak Kumar Mishra who wrote the ‘Banrakas’ role. I am glad. I am not Irrfan, Nawazuddin, I am an average actor with survival instinct in me.” he said.
Recalling his struggles in Mumbai in an interview with Lallantop, he said, “When I first came to Versova on May 28, 2016, I made a few friends from Madhya Pradesh Drama School. We decided to get into the industry at any cost. We found Neeraj Singh and Gaurav Singh of Prithvi, we made Aram Nagar our adda. We started to knock doors of every casting director, I fell on their feet to cast me in some role. All this, after having done Highway, Freaky Ali, and Sultan.”
Durgesh stressed the importance of mental and financial preparation for aspiring actors, cautioning actors against entering the industry unprepared. He warned youngsters about the industry’s challenges, while talking about the struggles even experienced actors like Manoj Bajpayee, Pankaj Tripathi, and Nawazuddin Siddiqui faced.
He said, “This is no place to try. This place is filled with crazy people. All the successful people you see today, including Manoj Bajpayee and Pankaj Tripahti, who were my seniors at the National School of Drama or even Nawazuddin Siddiqui, they are all half crazy people, nobody discloses this.”
Durgesh, who recently starred in Laapataa Ladies and Bhakshak, had a bigger role in Panchayat Season 2 as Banrakas.
