சுயசரிதை
Hiten Kumar; a much-loved and known name amongst every Gujarati. His real name is Hiten Mehta. Hiten Kumar was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra India to Ishwarlal Mehta & Urmila Mehta. He is the 2nd son of the Family. His elder brother Pankaj and younger sister Bhavna are his siblings.
Gujarati being his mother tongue, this Indian actor has worked mainly in 'Gujarati Films' in lead roles. But he is well-versed in Hindi, Marathi, and English as well. He has acted in about 127 Gujarati films as a lead,3 Hindi films J Jayate, Raakh & Simran directed by Hansal Mehta, and 3 Bhojpuri films till 2023.
His love for acting lead him to the theatres of Mumbai in years 1981-82. And since then he started his struggle to establish himself as a potential actor. He performed in dramas in various languages like Hindi, Marathi, English, and Gujarati in Mumbai. He was still pursuing his graduation at Mumbai University when he started performing in various intercollege drama competitions; and won Best Actor Awards as well.
It was around the years 1987- 88 when he got a chance to perform in Gujarati commercial plays in Mumbai with masters of that era. Working in Gujarati theatre with the maestros helped him to sharpen his craft of acting. These opportunities also gave him much-needed earnings to support his family's survival, while studying.
He joined a job at LIC as a Development Officer for 10 years looking at the priority of making money. He got married in 1989. Amongst all these, he continued his work at the theatre. After 10 years of job, he started his struggle to get a role in Hindi films or serials. During this phase, he faced many rejections by various makers. It too happened that even after the selection faced last-minute replacements by other actors. But he never lost his confidence and continued chasing his dream to make his space as a fine actor in the industry.
He had to settle for small roles in television shows and also got good roles in Gujarati television episodes, but nothing very satisfying was shaping up. Finally, he got his dream break in a Gujarati film (Unchi Medina Uncha Mol) in 1995-96 as a villain. He won the Best Actors Award in Negative role from the 'Gujarat State Award for this. This was followed by Hansal Mehta's directorial debut 'Jayate' with Shilpa Shirodkar, Sachin Khedekar, Kishore Kadam, and Anurag Kashyap (as writer).
Time was changing for good for him. He broke all the records with the historic success of 'DESH RE JOYA DADA PARDESH RE JOYA' as a lead. Produced and Directed by Mr. GOVIND PATEL in 1996-97, this film created history in the business of Gujarati cinema at that time. This record is still unbroken in regional cinema history. 40 lacs film did more than 22 Cr. worth of business when the ticket prices were between 7 to 11 Rs.
After this success in 27 years times (1996 to 2023), he did around 130 films as a leading Actor and created huge fans in his community. More than 50+ jubilees with 9 State Awards and 90 around other organizations Award for Acting and social cause.
During his theatre journey, he did more than 45 plays with hundreds of shows in Gujarati language along with other languages like Hindi Marathi, and English; but what he enjoyed the most in his commercial theatre in his mother tongue Gujarati. In between he went back to the theatre to check his knock with Craft. He did his last Gujarati play in 2019-20 'Pappa Amara Prime Minister' with 186 House-packed shows in just 8 months. He also did one television series Abhilasha on Colors Gujrati channel with no.1 T.R.P. around the same time.
In the year 2023, he is again experimenting in Gujarati cinema with all the different central characters in a number of films that are in the making. These new films will be knocking on the theatres in 2024 now. Hiten Kumar following his love for acting is keen to explore other languages of cinema like Hindi, Marathi, and South India with meaty roles.
Hiten Kumaar is known to be a fearless Actor. He has been experimenting a lot many times with age groups and sheds of characters throughout his acting career. From villain to hero to old age to darkest character in his latest film VASH; he has never hesitated to put his own craft to the test. His audience has always welcomed all experiments and has loved him for the same.
His last film Vash was adopted for Hindi remake by Mr. AJAY DEVGAN by officially acquiring rights of the same with the new name 'Black magic'.
While Hiten Kumar's Vash shocked the audience, his Aagantuk, Dhuaandhar, and Welcome Purnima mesmerized the audience with his range of performances.
