Exclusive | Panchayat actor Durgesh Kumar on working in soft p*rn: ‘It's a lie that you can struggle for 10-20 years with your friends’ money’

In Pic: Panchayat actor Durgesh Kumar

Actor Durgesh Kumar gained immense fame after working in the Jitendra Kumar starrer Panchayat. This series treated him as a lead actor and not just a supporting character. Now, in a conversation with midday.com, Durgesh opened up about his journey in Panchayat, his decision to work in a B-grade film, his perspective about OTT platforms, and more.

The actor started the conversation by talking about his journey and how he landed the role of Bhushan. He shared, "There is an assistant director named Navneet Ranga. He called me and said, ‘Dada, there is a web series in which there is an audition for the photographer of Fakoli. There is one scene.' So, I went and gave the audition for the photographer of Fakoli, which was later done by the writer of Aspirant. At that time, he called me and said, ‘Dada, there is one more scene, will you do it?' So, I said I would do it. That scene was of Bhushan. So, I did that. After doing that, some time passed, and I heard that the casting for the second season of Panchayat was going on, but I wasn't sure if they would take me or not. Then I got a call from Gulshan Ji, who is the associate casting director. He told me that my role had increased and it had been 20 days. Then, after that, I got to know that I was in the third season as well."

Panchayat is one of his biggest milestones. While sharing the process of getting work apart from this series, Kumar explained, "Mukesh Chabbra is a casting director who trusts me a lot. He gave me my first job in 2013, which was Imtiaz Ali's Highway. Then there are some directors, like Pulkit, Ashish R. Shukla, and Deepak Kumar Mishra; these people call me regularly to give work. So, I am the first person of this present time who has reached here after giving an audition."

While talking about how he never dreamt of becoming a hero, Durgesh shared that he believes he doesn't have the looks and that he can only work as a supporting actor. He has made his peace with this.

To earn money and manage his living in a city like Mumbai, Durgesh had to work in soft porn. "I convinced myself, saying, ‘No one gives you room rent, friends don't give you money. It's a lie that you can struggle for 10-20 years with your friends' money.' So, I took support with the small things I did," he shared with us.

He further discussed meme culture and how it can have a negative impact. Talking about this, he shared, "The meme culture has both positive and negative sides. The positive side is that people start trusting us actors. They start believing that we are doing something. But on the other hand, I am afraid of becoming overpopular. And I am also afraid of being typecast."

Durgesh has become a face of one of the most loved OTT series, so he decided to end this conversation by talking about the medium. He shared how OTT is still unable to give work to the actors who are struggling. "The battle is very long. You might think that the opportunity is big, but what has happened is that the stars have also started working on OTT. So, popular people have been cast, influencers have been taken in the series. So, a pure actor is still struggling," he shared.