Jitendra Kumar (born 1 September 1990) is an Indian actor who primarily works in Hindi films and web series. Kumar is best recognised for his portrayal of Jitu in TVF Pitchers, Jeetu Bhaiya in Kota Factory and Abhishek Tripathi in Panchayat. His notable films include Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan (2020), Jaadugar (2022) and Dry Day (2023). Kumar has received several awards including two Filmfare OTT Awards.
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Early life
Kumar was born on 1 September 1990 into a middle-class family in Khairthal town, of Alwar district (now in Khairthal-Tijara district) in Indian state of Rajasthan.
Kumar did his schooling until the ninth grade in his hometown, Khairthal. Later on, due to his father's job transfer, he did his tenth grade schooling in Sikar, where he topped the class. Then, he moved to Kota for two years for Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) preparation to secure admission in one of the Indian Institutes of Technology. He did his primary and secondary schooling in Hindi-medium schools. He cleared the JEE in Hindi also.
Career
While studying civil engineering at IIT Kharagpur, Kumar started liking acting. Jitendra Kumar has done many stage plays as the Governor of the Hindi Technology Dramatics Society at the IIT where he met Biswapati Sarkar, Executive Creative Director and Writer at The Viral Fever who eventually invited him to join TVF in 2012.
Kumar starred in Munna Jazbaati: The Q-tiya Intern in 2013 which instantly went viral and crossed 3 million views. Since then, he has portrayed several characters in TVF videos which includes Tech Conversations With Dad, A Day With, TVF Bachelors, Kota Factory and many others.
Apart from TVF videos on YouTube, Kumar has played a few significant roles in comedy sketches, movies and web series. He is predominantly famous for his character Jitendra Maheshwari, a frustrated corporate employee from TVF Pitchers, Gittu, a confused bridegroom from Permanent Roommates and Jeetu Bhaiya from Kota Factory. He made his film debut with Shuruat Ka Interval in 2014.
In 2020, he was seen as Aman Tripathi in Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan opposite Ayushmann Khurrana and then he played Billu in Chaman Bahaar.
Kumar's most notable role came with the series Panchayat, where he portrayed Abhishek Tripathi, a young urban secretary of a Panchayat office in the village Phulera, Uttar Pradesh. The series has been expanded to four seasons and received positive responses. Tanisha Bagchi of The Quint noted, "It’s refreshing to see Jitendra Kumar on screen every time. Kumar portrays Abhishek’s frustration with such ease that we can’t help but feel for this young guy who had to leave a bustling metro and make a desolate and gloomy panchayat office his home." The series earned him Filmfare OTT Awards for Best Actor – Comedy Series and Best Actor Critics – Comedy Series.