The popularity of his much-loved character from "Kota Factory" points towards the dearth of mentor figures in people's lives, says actor Jitendra Kuman decoding why his role of Jeetu Bhaiya resonates with viewers so much.
In the Kota-set series, Jeetu bhaiya is a mentor and teacher at a coaching institute, where students prepare for the highly competitive Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) entrance exams.
According to Jitendra, the character acts as a support system to the students going through challenges. "The only thing that I'm able to decode from the love this show and this character has received is that we have very few mentor-figures. Either there isn't the right kind of mentorship or it is completely unavailable so much so that people feel alone.
"As humans, we are social and we have a need to express ourselves and we need support, a lot. At times, we make friends who are in the same competition and that's why we are not able to share certain things with them... that's why people have related with this fictional character of Jeetu bhaiya," Jitendra told PTI in an interview.
The new season of the black-and-white series, which hails from The Viral Fever (TVF), sees the students preparing for final exams while dealing with other challenges in their life.
Jitendra, also known for his work on series "TVF Pitchers" and "Panchayat" as well as feature film "Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan", is an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur who also studied in Kota.
Recalling his coaching days, the actor said students were taught in huge numbers in big halls and auditoriums.
"A teacher used to take the lecture in a big hall or an auditorium for 1.5 hours and there are at least 20-25 classes every week. They don't have the time to personally understand the problems of each and every student.
"Students get inspired and impressed by their teachers, whether by their teaching methods or style... My teachers were my stars and when I used to meet them, it was a huge deal. I was starstruck by them." After "Kota Factory" came out, the actor said his former professors sent messages and congratulated him.
"I went back to Kota and met them there. And they told me how this series has changed their perspective towards their work. They never had this thought that they can personally connect with students.
"We tend to focus too much on studies and solving the numerical equations that we forget about the students. This series has changed them a lot and they now try to help their students in solving their personal problems as well. And this was a winning feedback for me and this series," he said.
"Kota Factory" also features Mayur More, who plays the role of Vaibhav, an IIT aspirant in Kota.
After playing the character for three seasons, More believes that stress and anxiety about performing well in competitive exams is a very common human feeling but one should just focus on the process and enjoy it.
"You can do a lot of preparation but still feel stress. At times, there is stress because you feel you have over prepared... At times, we have already decided the result of something in our heads and then we get disappointed. Some people achieve those results and some don't.
"I believe that that disappointment is very important... So one should just enjoy the process and try to better what you have in your hand," he said.
Directed by Pratish Mehta and showrun by Raghav Subbu, “Kota Factory” also features Ranjan Raj, Alam Khan, Revathi Pillai, Ahsaas Channa, Rajesh Kumar and Tillotama Shome.
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