Jitendra Kumar on rumours of fallout with TVF, quitting Panchayat: 'People panicked'

Before ‘Panchayat 3’ released, it was rumoured that Jitendra Kumar, who plays Abhishek Tripathi on the show, had quit the show owing to a fallout with production house TVF. In an exclusive chat with IndiaToday.in, Jitendra opened up about the same, sharing how he was troubled with all the noise.

Starring Jitendra in a lead role, ‘Panchayat’ stars Neena Gupta, Raghubir Yadav, among others. The TVF series is based in the fictional Phulera village and presents societal and political issues in a tongue-in-cheek manner. It is narrated through Jitendra's character, who plays the sachiv (secretary) to pradhan (chief) on the show.

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"There was a lot of panic and I could see that all over social media. The last season ended on Abhishek's transfer and that also spurred the buzz further. There was a misunderstanding, and honestly, main bhi pareshan ho jata tha (I would get troubled) answering the same questions. At one point, I was like aur mat poochon, bandh karo yeh (don't ask about it, end it now)," Jitendra shared with a laugh.

The actor added that given he knew that the news was untrue and he was already preparing for the new season, it did not have a massive effect on him. He added, "Given I have had a long association with TVF, people were worried about what went wrong. I understood it's their love and we just waited for the first trailer to end all speculations."

Talking about the bigger fandom that he gained through ‘Panchayat’, the actor said that ‘Shubh Mangal Savdhaan’ and the web show released around the same time in 2020. "The youth knew me, thanks to all the sketches I have done before. But with the film, the family audience identified me. So, when ‘Panchayat’ dropped later, there was more curiosity among them. However, yes, it has been a gradual one and growing with every project that I do," Jitendra added.

‘Panchayat 3’ released on May 28 and is streaming on Prime Video.