‘Banarakas’ of ‘Panchayat’ was in depression twice: Said- ‘Fell at the feet of casting director and asked for roles, worked in soft porn films’
Season 3 of the web series ‘Panchayat’ is in the headlines these days. In the series, Durgesh Kumar has played the role of Bhushan i.e. Banarakas, which is being liked a lot. Talking about his struggle in the film world in an interview, Durgesh told that he has been in depression twice and he has not got success in the film industry so easily. Durgesh was in depression twice in 11 years In an interview, Durgesh Kumar said, ‘I have been in depression twice in 11 years. Honestly, if you are not mentally and financially healthy, then you should not come to the acting field. This is not a place worth trying. It is full of crazy people. Pankaj Tripathi and Manoj Bajpayee have been my seniors. There were 20 people in Pankaj Tripathi’s batch alone, all were very talented but did you see anyone else other than Pankaj? There were 30 people in Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s batch but apart from Nawaz, only Nirmal Das was the one who got a role in Sarfarosh. He later went mad and passed away. No one knows about this. Do you see the struggle here? You have to be very strong mentally here. If you are not mentally strong, please don’t come to Bombay.’ Durgesh asked for a role by falling at the feet of the casting director Talking about his struggle journey, Durgesh told how he came to Mumbai from Darbhanga, Bihar. He said, ‘When I came to Mumbai for the second time on 28 May 2016, some students of Madhya Pradesh Drama School became my friends. We wanted to enter the film industry by any means. We made Aram Nagar our base. We knocked on the doors of every casting director, I used to fall at their feet and ask for a role from them. This was the situation when I had done films like ‘Highway’, ‘Freaky Ali’ and ‘Sultan’.’ My friends used to abuse me for falling at people’s feet and asking for work. I used to say, I have to crack it at any cost. This is the kind of struggle and dedication you need to make a place in the industry. I used to feel very embarrassing that despite working in films, I used to go for any audition because the casting directors knew me. In the first season of ‘Panchayat’, I got a chance to work for only one day. My shoot was completed in two and a half hours. I am thankful to Chandan Kumar and Deepak Kumar Mishra who wrote the role of Banarakas. Had to work in soft porn films Durgesh told that he came to Mumbai for the first time in 2013. After this, he gave many auditions but the casting directors used to tell him that he has talent but things were not working out in the auditions. After this, he got a chance to work in Imtiaz Ali’s film Highway but even after this, when he did not get work, he had to do soft porn films to survive. Durgesh said, ‘I could not live without acting. I did many kinds of work because I knew how much potential I had.’
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