I don’t derive happiness from working in movies, I find it in life: Vinit Kumar

Vinit Kumar, who is known for his roles in movies like Masaan (2015) and recent web projects like Maharani (2021) and The Great Indian Murder (2022), will be seen next as a politician in the SonyLIV show, Nirmal Pathak Ki Ghar Wapsi.

Talking about how he got on board, Vinit Kumar said, “I didn’t hear the script. I did it because of my faith in Narenji [producer Naren Kumar]. Then when I met our writer-director Rahul Pandey, he told me it’s a politician’s role. I was like, it’s no big deal for me, it’s not new for me. But Rahul said, ‘I’m new.’ And, genuinely, he has portrayed it in a new way. You work sometimes based on your team’s faith.”

The actor loves it when there is some newness to his role or when he is challenged as an artiste. That, for him, was the fun part about Nirmal Pathak Ki Ghar Wapsi. “I’m from Bihar and know a lot of politicians," he said. "So I used to overdo it sometimes and Rahul would pull me back and want me to underplay it. He wanted to portray this politician in an all-new avatar. That, for me, was the interesting part. You always have to discover something new within a role.”

There was another reason he enjoyed playing the role. “This was fun and challenging for me in a way," he said, "for instance, one-liners in the trailer like, ‘Are you from JNU?’ These things were a lot of fun for me because these are not my views or thoughts. So, how do I portray something which I don’t believe in? How do you portray that you are actually of that thought process when you are not? So, these were the kind of things we looked into.”

Vinit Kumar, who came to Mumbai from Bihar in the 1990s to become an actor, likes to keep his personal life separate from his profession. For him, his work is just a part of his life, not life itself.

Asked if he was happy with the kind of work coming his way, he responded, “I don’t derive happiness from working in movies. I find happiness from living life. It doesn’t matter to me whether I’m on a hoarding or not. I enjoy my life.

"I don’t take any part of any shoot back home. I just do whatever comes my way. When someone knocks at my door and tells me, here’s a role for you, that’s fun for me because then they are sure that he can perform. I don’t even go looking for roles, nor do I choose roles, because I’m not a star. I have nothing to choose from.”

The actor will also be seen in the second seasons of Maharani and The Great Indian Murder.

Nirmal Pathak Ki Ghar Wapsi stars Vaibhav Tatwawadi and Alka Amin and is directed by Rahul Pandey with Satish Nair. Watch the trailer below and let us know if you are keen to watch it.