As Panchayat 2 wins praise, its director Deepak Kumar Mishra has gone viral on social media. The newfound social media status is not only because of his show, but also people rediscovered Rowdies, a project he did more than a decade back. In the light of Panchayat 2’s success, fans dug out old photos and videos from the spoof-based show, and Deepak confessed the meme-fest online is ‘unbelievable’.
Speaking exclusively to indianexpress.com, Deepak Kumar Mishra says that he feels ‘amazing’ at how people still remember the show. “It was a long time ago, and I was acting back then. The spoof really got popular but it’s unbelievable how people still remember it, and are talking about it, and sharing memes. It does feel good and I don’t think there’s any harm in it,” he added with a smile.
Talking about the time Rowdies became popular, the actor-director said that it was the first time they tasted virality. Stating that it was unexpected, he added, “There were messages everywhere, people would recognise you. That time it came as a shocker but now with time, we have gotten used to it.” He further said that the team decided to spoof Roadies given its popularity. “We were however careful to not go personal. We were scared of receiving a backlash and we handled it with maturity,” he added.
On being asked about the kind of reaction he received personally and if people address him as Raghu Ram, Deepak laughed, “They call you a lot of things. Someone told me that I look like their mobile phone repairing guy. I think those are the terms that stick with you forever.”
The Panchayat director further revealed he doesn’t plan to use this sudden nostalgia-led popularity, as he wants to stick to direction. “Acting happened just for fun. Back in college, I used to direct plays and was involved in theatre. One of my friends just called me with a role, and that’s how it started. I have never auditioned or looked out for roles as that was never in my mind. It was for plain fun, and even when I acted, I would also assist the director. This was because I have always wanted to be a director.”
