From Tambu Wala village to silver screen: Dheeraj Kumar on art, family and staying real

His mother calls him a “sensible fighter”. His elder brother Neeraj, he says, quietly carried responsibilities while helping him pursue dreams.

Values learnt at home – honesty, respect, discipline, kindness – still guide him. Father taught him to do his own work and not waste water. Mother, he says, never raised hand on them. “She always believed a person learns better through love.”

From cricket to theatre and music

Acting was not first dream. He wanted to be cricketer, while father wanted him to be singer and actor.

After father’s death, he saw those dreams differently. “I felt I could keep him alive by fulfilling dreams he had for me,” he says.

He graduated in Arts from GGS DAV Centenary College, Jalalabad, did B.Ed in Music and Hindi, MA in Music (Vocal) from Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, and MA in Theatre from Department of Indian Theatre, Panjab University, Chandigarh.

He entered films in 2015 with Rupinder Gandhi The Gangster..? followed by Qissa Punjab. Warning brought wider recognition.

“I now understand most important thing is simply to become a good human being. Everything else comes after that,” he says.

The challenge of staying real

Biggest challenge, he says, is separating profession from person and resisting pressure to build image.

“Every person’s biggest challenge is to stay in harmony with person they are within,” he says.

In social media era, that is harder. “Today social media has made almost everything feel scripted and takes us away from reality. Staying real is biggest challenge.”

He counts Irrfan Khan among inspirations, but also credits mother, sisters, wife Raavi Kaur and sister-in-law. Nature too inspires him.

Through difficult phases, family remained support. “Until you break, you don’t really learn how to rebuild and grow,” he says.

Wife Raavi, who often accompanies him on sets and helps manage work, has helped him become better version of himself. “I met another me inside of you,” he tells her.

“We actors are not always as busy as we make ourselves look,” he says with laugh. Message to youth: work honestly, respect every profession, don’t lose sight of family.

“It doesn’t matter how talented you are; what matters is how honestly you put in effort.”

On AI changing creative work: “AI can never take place of art,” he says, urging families to introduce at least one child to art to preserve sensitivity and human emotion.