Better Late Than Never - Viineet Kumar

It took him 17 years to find a solo lead role in Mukkabaaz (2017), and he couldn't have been busier since. He will be seen in as many as half a dozen films and web series over the next six months.

- Jigar Shah

Talking about his hard work and struggle, Lionel Messi once said, “I start early and I stay late, day after day, year after year, it took me 17 years and 114 days to be an overnight success”. Viineet Kumar (Gangs Of Wasseypur, Ugly and Bombay Talkies), who was last seen as Veer Singh in Netflix’s Bard of Blood, must be taking inspiration from that quote by the football legend. It took him 17 years to find a solo lead role in Mukkabaaz (2017) and since then, there was no looking back He has more than six releases coming up — Betaal, Saand Ki Aankh, Aadhaar, Tryst with Destiny, Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl and a South remake) in terms of web shows and films lined up for the next six months.

Kumar, who for the longest time would wait for films to come his way, is happy that today, he has a slate of films to look forward to. He says, “I’m very happy right now…I feel that your dreams can't come true if you don't try and keep at it. Even in my wildest dreams, I had never thought that I will get to experiment so much as an actor… each of these films are different from each other and in each one, you will get to see something different from me. This has happened because of the trust people have shown in me and they've considered even the smallest roles I've done in my career. But at the end of the day, it is the script that chooses you. Earlier I was told that I'm not being seen outside the Anurag Kashyap camp, so I used to tell them that outside of that camp, I won't get work( laughs). But I’ve noticed something. If someone has done even one scene with me, I’ve been called by them again to work with them. Take Bard of Blood for example. Then I was offered Betaal. Drishyam Pictures offered me another project the moment I finished the first one with them.”