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They say Mumbai is the city of dreams for the simplest of the reason. You keep dreaming, and someday, this city turns that dream into a reality. Panchayat’s actor Durgesh Kumar, who must have dreamt big has finally started achieving those dreams. The actor who plays Banrakas in the web series has recently purchased his first home in Mumbai.
Durgesh had very humble beginnings and faced a lot of lows once he decided to drop his engineering aim and become an actor. He enrolled himself in NSD in 2008 and eventually started a new journey.
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There were times when he questioned if acting was the right path for him. However, his passion for the craft kept him going. He took up odd jobs to sustain himself while continuing to audition. He eventually arrived with Panchayat.
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For the first season of Panchayat, Durgesh was paid only Rs 10,000 for his role, which was initially meant for someone else, while he auditioned for an even smaller role in the web series. But stars favored his fortune this time. However, he did not even contemplate what was coming next.
In the next season of the web series, Durgesh Kumar’s character gained popularity, and he became famous as the irritating Banrakas. His punchline, Dekh Raha Hai Binod, is now the fodder for most of the memes on the internet. He is the ‘Dekh Raha Hai Binod’ guy, and he might not have thought of hitting such stardom!
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The actor’s salary for the new season is reported to be somewhere between 15 – 20K per episode. This is almost 78% less than Sachiv Ji Jitendra Kumar, who has been paid 70 – 75K per episode for Panchayat Season 3.
Durgesh Kumar has hit stardom with Panchayat, but his career faced 5 brutal events before he became the Dekh Raha Hai Binod guy. Here are his toughest lows.
Rejected For PK
The actor auditioned for a role in Rajkumar Hirani’s PK but he failed the audition and could not crack it. He eventually landed a role in Imtiaz Ali’s Highway finally.
Ousted From NSD
After Durgesh Kumar cracked a role for Highway, he went on a 45-day leave from the NSD repertory – the performance wing of the drama school. The actor was ousted from the drama wing due to a long absence.
Uncredited Role In Sultan
There are times when an actor like Nawazuddin Siddiqui got noticed in the smallest role in Munnabhai. Or Vijay Raaz got famous for his Kauwa Biryani in Run. But there are also times when actors don’t get noticed. Most of us did not notice the Panchayat actor in Salman Khan’s Sultan. In fact he was not even credited for his role!
Doing Soft Porn
The actor confessed that he did a soft porn series for Ekta Kapoor’s Alt Balaji show Virgin Bhaskar. For survival, he led two seasons of the show.
Not Landing Good Roles
In one of his interviews, the actor shared how disheartening it was to not land roles. He said, “From 2013 to 2022, I was trying and working very hard. The casting directors could see my potential. I auditioned for big roles, but I couldn’t crack anything. I could not win the producer’s trust for some reason.”
Durgesh Kumar has finally shot to fame with Panchayat and we hope to see him in more varied roles in the future. Meanwhile, we heartily congratulate him for the most prized possession in Mumbai – ‘Apna Ghar.’
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