Vineet Kumar: ‘Garmi’ Vineet Kumar, who worked with South Industry, told why Bollywood films are failing – garmi actor vineet kumar reveals why bollywood movies failed at box office

Actor Vineet Kumar, who moved from Bihar to Delhi and then came to Mumbai three decades ago to give an identity to his acting skills, has done a lot of work in Hindi and South films. These days he is in discussion about his new web series ‘Garmi’. Here is an exclusive interview with him:

You have also done a lot of work in the South. South’s films are being liked by the audience, while few Bollywood films are able to survive at the box office. What do you see as the reason for this?
South is doing the same work as it used to do before. We have been working in that industry since 2002. He is doing a better job at that time also. Not a single film of SS Rajamouli has flopped till date. That man is doing his work. The problem of Hindi is that there is a crisis here. Because in Hindi people are not able to connect at the ground level, they are not able to tell the story of the land. That’s why it looks like a fairy tale. If you look at South’s films, then the character in each of their films is of the land, even if it is commercial. Just look at ‘Pushpa’, people connect with her look and body language. People feel connected with his grown beard, wearing lungi, style etc. If we also start understanding our land, then we will also perform well. As we will see in ‘Garmi’ series, there are characters in it, they will be seen connected to the land.

One son in IPS and one in acting, so what did parents have to say about your career choice?
In the initial phase, father used to think that this acting etc. is nonsense. He used to say that you have done a lot of drama for four days, now do some work, otherwise how will you run your house. His concern was also valid. He could not earn any money from the theatre. But when I got selected in NSD, they felt that maybe I have achieved something. Because when you came to NSD in 1986, at that time if the word ‘National’ was used in front of you, then people used to think that you have achieved something. After listening to the National School of Drama, people used to think that you have achieved something big. Then the father felt a little satisfied that the son was doing something good. After that he passed away. Then when we came to Patna in 1989, the whole political atmosphere was created. There was upheaval in the theater etc. Everyone was doing something in their own way. At that time I was not able to understand what to do, then a friend told me to have a look in Mumbai. Then we picked up our box and went to see Mumbai. Since then till now we are only seeing Mumbai.

Tell us about your character in the series ‘Garmi’?
Basically, he is a man with knowledge of politics, whom people know by the name of Bairagi Baba. He takes politics very seriously. He knows very well how to work at the grassroots level, how to brainwash them. That’s why all the students are in his trap. There is his arena outside, but the stakes of politics are screwed in the room.

Was there ever a time when you had to seek someone’s help to survive in the industry?
Yes many people helped and I also helped many people who didn’t help me later. I never forget two people who helped me. One of them is National Award winning director, Vijay Arora. The other sound engineer was Rajendra Hegde. Both of them helped me when I was facing financial crunch in 1986-87. We can never forget this. When I came to Mumbai, I was 35 years old, at that time there was no childishness in us. The era we have come through, you must understand that we grew up in our childhood itself.

Whatever web series are there and in which violence is seen, those stories are mostly taken from UP Bihar. While in many parts of the country and universities, there are often reports of tension and political disturbance among students, what is the reason that the makers have to turn to UP and Bihar for the story of students, violence and politics?
There is a basic reason behind this that the people there will be more excited, where there is a crisis. If you pay attention, these two states Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were in crisis since independence. When Haryana was formed after separating from Punjab, Rajasthan and Punjab, there were no such conditions there. Apart from that there were no problems in places like Maharashtra, Himachal. Because of the crisis, there is an abundance of politics in UP and Bihar, it used to increase. This is the reason why many people used to become IAS and IPS in UP-Bihar.

Your brother is also an IPS officer, so you must have heard many stories from him too?
Yes, his extension has also been retired on the last day. Well we don’t talk much. We don’t talk much about this matter. They do not share with us the matter of their department. There was no big age gap between us and him, he is two-and-a-half years older than us. When we kept doing theatre, we didn’t have much free time, and he too was busy in his police uniform. Hey, Brother ! We are from Bihar, we know the story more than them. The stories which we used to know earlier, many stories must have come to our knowledge later. (Laughs) We used to know before them that well this is going to happen. You must be understanding what we want to say.