Jitendra Kumar on doing Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan: I didn't have any doubts; we were just normalising the gay thing | Exclusive

Jitendra said Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan was his first Bollywood film, and he was a bit nervous. Jitendra said his co-star Ayushmann Khurrana, who played his love interest in the movie, was very supportive throughout the shoot of the film.

Jitendra Kumar, who is riding high on the success of his recent web shows 'Kota Factory 3' and 'Panchayat Season 3', spoke about his decision to play a gay character in his 2020 film 'Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan.'

In an exclusive conversation with MoneyControl, actor Jitendra Kumar spoke about his character Aman Tripathi in the movie Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan and said he had no doubts in his mind while choosing to play the role on screen.

"I didn’t have any doubts while shooting for Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan. Jab poora narration liya maine toh director kis tareeke se isko approach kar raha hai woh samajh aaya. It’s a romantic comedy, like kisi mudde par hum philosophical hokar nahi baat kar rahe hai. We were just normalizing the gay thing and doing a fresh thing. I really liked the script from the moment I heard it. And all the doubts in my mind were clear. I was not thinking ki mujhe aisa kuch karna padh raha hai jo awkward ho ya mujhe kuch karne mein problem ho. Aisa kabhi bhi feel nahi hua ("I didn't have any doubts while shooting for Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan. Once I read the entire narration, I understood how the director was approaching it. It's a romantic comedy, not a philosophical discussion about an issue. We were just normalizing the gay thing and doing something fresh. I really liked the script, and the moment I heard it, all my doubts were cleared. I wasn't thinking that I had to do something awkward or that I would have trouble doing something. I never felt that way," Jitendra told us.

Watch the full interview here:

Jitendra said Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan was his first Bollywood film, and he was a bit nervous. Jitendra said his co-star Ayushmann Khurrana, who played his love interest in the movie, was very supportive throughout the shoot of the film.

"I had wonderful co-actors, especially Ayushmann (Khurrana), who helped me a lot throughout the filming. It was a new experience for me, and he made me feel comfortable. Since it was my first big film, working with all the co-actors was a fun experience shooting for Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan," he said.

When asked about his approach to choosing a role, Jitendra said that as actors, 'we are greedy and looking for meaty roles' and he tends to do roles inspired by real-life characters.

"As actors, we are often greedy to get good roles; interesting characters that are inspired by real life and are portrayed larger than life are what interests us. There's also some reality in that, and the way the character is portrayed can inspire an actor to think, "I want to play this character in this phase." So, of course, you go with the flow. Whatever my first instinct is, I know that this story will be fun to do, that it will be fun to work with the filmmaker, that I will learn a lot, and that working with the co-actors will be good. These are the things I look forward to, and I totally go on my first instinct. I enjoyed listening to the story at that time.

Whether the role will be positive or negative, we can't predict. We can't predict the reaction we'll get from listening to any story. If we know what kind of reaction we're going to get, then there's no fun. The unpredictability is the fun part when you do certain characters where there's no idea what the reaction will be," he said.

Jitendra is being loved for his portrayal of Jeetu Bhaiya. The actor completed his IIT in Kharagpur and then ventured into acting.

In the interview, he also revealed that he himself was a student at Kota, Rajasthan, and those years were very formative for his future life.