Jitendra Joshi

Television and early films (2001–2011)

Joshi began his screen career on Marathi television in 2001, appearing in the Alpha TV Marathi family serial Shriyut Gangadhar Tipre.^[6] Around the same time, he played Krishna in the daily soap Ghadlay Bighadlay, a role that brought him his first widespread recognition.^[7] He made his film debut in 2003 with the Hindi comedy Praan Jaye Par Shaan Na Jaye, after being cast by producer Mahesh Manjrekar, who had seen him perform in a play.^[8] Alongside acting, Joshi anchored the youth-oriented show Campus: A Fair War in 2004, for which he won the Best Anchor (Male) awards at the Zee Marathi Utsav Natyancha Awards and the Maharashtra Times Sanman.^[9]

Through the second half of the decade Joshi appeared in a number of Marathi films in supporting and comic roles, including Pak Pak Pakaak (2005) and the comedy drama No Problem (2005). He also worked as a lyricist during this period, writing the Marathi song "Kombdi Palali" for the film Jatra (2005), composed by Ajay–Atul; the tune was later adapted for the Hindi song "Chikni Chameli".^[10] Joshi landed his first lead role in 2006 with the Marathi romantic comedy Golmaal, playing a simple man who has loved a woman since his college days, opposite debutante Amruta Khanvilkar.^[11] He subsequently appeared in a supporting role in Gajendra Ahire's marital drama Gulmohar (2009) and played one of the two lead roles, alongside Makarand Anaspure, in Ahire's ensemble family drama Sumbaran (2009).^[12]

In 2009, he took over as anchor of the popular Zee Marathi game show Home Minister after its regular host, Aadesh Bandekar, stepped away to contest the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election, and in 2011 he also hosted the talent reality show Marathi Paaul Padte Pudhe.^[13][14] That year he also took on a role of television reporter and one of two central comic roles, alongside Anaspure and Tejaswini Lonari, in Guldasta; Naru Mama, the free-spirited uncle of the teenage protagonist, in Sujay Dahake's coming-of-age drama Shala, adapted from Milind Bokil's novel of the same name, which went on to win the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Marathi; and a supporting role as the protagonist's confidant in the comedy Zhakaas, for which he won the Favourite Supporting Actor award at the Maharashtracha Favourite Kon awards.^[15]

Breakthrough as a leading actor (2012–2015)

His most acclaimed leading role came in 2012, when he played the title role of the 17th-century Varkari saint-poet in the biographical drama Tukaram, directed by Chandrakant Kulkarni.^[16] Shakti Salgaokar of DNA called his performance as "absolute delight" and stated "Joshi comfortably eases into the role and keeps you captivated without going overboard with 'performance'."^[17] He went on to win Best Actor at the 11th Pune International Film Festival and was nominated at the Zee Chitra Gaurav Puraskar.^[18] Later that year, he took the lead role of a struggling gardener and father, in the family drama Kutumb. Reviewing the film for The Common Man Speaks, Keyur Seta praised Joshi's performance, describing it as "brilliant" and stating that he "pours his heart out while playing a caring father and husband."^[19] He portrayed an antagonist Sainath Dedgaonkar in Sanjay Jadhav's coming of age Duniyadari (2013) opposite Swapnil Joshi and Ankush Chaudhari.^[20] The film emerged as a blockbuster, grossing over ₹32 crore worldwide and becoming the highest-grossing Marathi film of its time.^[21][22] He also had a brief role as Ashish, the boyfriend of Singham's childhood friend Menka (played by Sonalee Kulkarni), in Rohit Shetty's Singham Returns (2014).^[23]

In 2014 Joshi played the lead role of an unassuming man who holds fast to his faith, in the drama Raakhandaar, which received a mixed critical response.^[24] He then continued to play negative roles, appearing as the influential and aggressive Kolte Patil in the comedy Premasathi Coming Suun (2014) and as the principal antagonist opposite Shreyas Talpade and Amruta Khanvilkar in Baji (2015).^[25] Baji collected ₹10.79 crore at the box office, becoming the tenth highest-grossing Marathi film of the year.^[26] A Koimoi critic praised Joshi's performance, writing that "Joshi may be the villain, but he is the true hero of this story," while commending his commanding screen presence and genuinely frightening portrayal of Martand.^[27] He returned to a leading romantic role the same year in Kranti Redkar's directorial debut Kaakan, playing Kisu, a poor villager separated from his lover by class differences; though the film did not perform well commercially on release, it has since grown into a cult favourite in Marathi cinema.^[28][29] The Times of India review wrote that "Joshi continues his effortless command over characters," praising his ability to play both the young and the elderly version of Kisu with equal conviction and noting that he seemed to inhabit each costume and persona completely.^[30]

National recognition and OTT debut (2016–2019)

In 2016 Joshi co-starred in the National Award winning comedy-drama Ventilator, produced by Priyanka Chopra's Purple Pebble Pictures.^[31] The film follows the Kamerkar family, whose long-buried conflicts resurface after its patriarch is hospitalized and placed on a ventilator before Ganesh Chaturthi.^[32] He played Prasanna Kamerkar, Gajanan's son, a man preoccupied with his own political ambitions who is forced to confront his strained relationship with his father.^[33] His performance was widely praised, earning him the Sanskruti Kaladarpan for Best Actor, the MaTa Sanman for Best Supporting Actor, and a nomination for Best Actor at the Filmfare Awards Marathi.^[34] Kunal Guha of Mumbai Mirror wrote that as the film progresses, Joshi "furnishes his character's state of mind immaculately," calling his performance one worth acknowledging.^[35] The film was also a commercial success, collecting ₹25 crore at the box office.^[36] The following year, he played a village sarpanch and devotee of the Maratha king Shivaji, whose efforts to restore a decaying hill fort draw him into local political conflict, in the comedy-drama Baghtos Kay Mujra Kar, directed by Hemant Dhome.^[37] Shalaka Nalawade of The Times of India wrote that "BKMK belongs to Jitendra Joshi," describing his bumbling, idealistic, and clueless sarpanch as endearing to an almost excessive degree.^[38]

He reached a national audience in 2018 with the role of Constable Katekar in Sacred Games, India's first Netflix original series, starring alongside Saif Ali Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui.^[39] Critics singled out his performance for bringing humour and local authenticity to the series; writing for Scroll.in, Nandini Ramnath said the constable was brought to life marvellously by Joshi, who added humour and local flavour to the show.^[40] He won the Best Supporting Actor award at the News18 iReel Awards for the role.^[41] The same year he played the antagonist, a village goon who terrorizes the local populace, opposite Riteish Deshmukh in the action drama Mauli.^[42] In 2019 Joshi hosted the talk show Don Special on Colors Marathi, in which he interviewed pairs of celebrity guests from Marathi film, television, and public life.^[43]

In 2020 he played a professional thief who steals only what he needs to survive, in the comedy-drama Choricha Mamla, an adaptation of Dario Fo's play The Virtuous Burglar; the performance won him Best Actor at the Zee Talkies Comedy Awards and the Maharashtra State Film Award for Best Comedian.^[44] Santosh Bhingarde of Sakal wrote that Joshi was the one who "captured the most emotions in the entire film," praising his portrayal of the straightforward, brash Nandan as the performance's standout.^[45] The same year he portrayed a corrupt businessman overseeing a highway project through tribal land who turns on his own allies in a desperate bid for survival, in the Netflix horror series Betaal.^[46] In 2021 he had a brief role as the estranged husband of the female lead (played by Neha Pendse), in the drama June, for which he also co-wrote the lyrics with Nikhil Mahajan.^[47]

Producer and recent work (2020–present)

Joshi expanded into film production, co-founding projects under the banner Blue Drop Films.^[48][49] In 2021 he produced, starred in, and wrote the lyrics for the Marathi drama Godavari, directed by Nikhil Mahajan, playing Nishikant Deshmukh, a disillusioned man collecting rent for his landowning family in Nashik.^[50] The film premiered internationally at the 2021 Vancouver International Film Festival, and at the 52nd International Film Festival of India, Joshi won the Best Actor Award the first time the honour went to a Marathi actor.^[51][52] Kalpeshraj Kubal of Maharashtra Times wrote that Joshi, in the role of Nishi, "reflected the anguish and longing" of the character, layering multiple shades of emotion into the performance.^[53] He went on to win the Best Actor Critics award at the Filmfare Awards Marathi for the performance, where the film also won Best Film.^[54] At the 59th Maharashtra State Film Awards, Joshi won the Best Actor and Best Lyricist awards for his work on the film, which also won Best Film III.^[55]

In 2022, he played the menacing villager in the Netflix Hindi film Thar and wrote the lyrics for two songs, "Chaal Ka Badalaleli" and "Ka Pahije," in the romantic drama Medium Spicy.^[56] Avinash Lohana of Pinkvilla wrote, "Joshi’s act as Panna proves that there is nothing that he can’t aptly play on screen."^[57] His performance as Panna in the film earned him a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the Filmfare OTT Awards.^[58] He was next seen in Naal 2, the sequel to the 2018 film, directed by Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti, for which he won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor award.^[59] He followed it with the Marathi thriller Ghaath (2023), in which he portrayed a Naxalite and for which he won his second Filmfare Best Actor Critics award at the 9th Filmfare Awards Marathi; Debanjan Dhar of Outlook wrote, "Joshi grounding the film with its most condensed, affecting performance."^[60][61] He also appeared in the Hindi films Ulajh (2024) and Agni (2024).^[62]

Joshi opened 2026 with two Marathi releases on the same day: the psychological thriller Magic, directed by Ravindra Vijaya Karmarkar, in which he played the lead role of a guilt-ridden encounter specialist confronted by the daughter of a man he had killed;^[63] and Hemant Dhome's social drama Krantijyoti Vidyalay Marathi Madhyam, a commercial success centred on the fight to save a Marathi-medium school, in which he had a cameo as the state's education minister.^[64] He went on to play a village strongman caught up in a village-wide panic over a supposed haunting, in the comedy-horror Tumbadchi Manjula (2026), a remake of the Kannada hit Su From So, which went on to become a commercial success, earning ₹19.34 crore worldwide.^[65][66] Mayur Sanap of Rediff wrote that Joshi's streaked stubble and curly hair gave him a distinctive look, and that while he played the part with sincerity, Ravi Anna "never moves beyond a straightforward good man figure."^[67] He followed it with a key supporting role in Mardini (2026) alongside Prarthana Behere and Abhijeet Khandkekar, a crime drama centred on a mother's fight to protect her daughter, marking Shreyas Talpade's return to film production after a twelve-year gap.^[68] The film received a mixed response from critics and flopped at the box office.^[69]

Films

Television

Theatre

Web series