|
When KGPians Take the Stage
At IIT Kharagpur, creativity has always lived alongside science and engineering. Some KGPians have carried that creative spark far beyond the campus—onto film sets, television screens, comedy stages and into writers’ rooms—showing that a KGP education can be the beginning of an unexpected artistic journey.
Jitendra Kumar (B.Tech, Civil Engineering, 2012) went from the Technology Dramatics Society to becoming one of India’s most recognizable actors through Panchayat, Kota Factory and TVF Pitchers. He is now appearing as Bablu Pandit in Mirzapur: The Movie, which released in September 2026. Biswapati Sarkar (M.Sc., Statistics & Informatics) helped shape India's digital entertainment revolution as a writer, producer and creative force at TVF; his recent credits include Kaala Paani, Maamla Legal Hai, Logout and Fighter, and he now leads original film and series development at Posham Pa Pictures. Arunabh Kumar (Dual Degree, Electrical Engineering, 2001–06) turned his love for theatre and filmmaking into TVF, helping pioneer India's digital-content boom with shows such as Pitchers, Kota Factory and Panchayat. Today, he is building Indusverse, a graphic-novel platform, while also working on career mentorship through Fundaa.
Biswa Kalyan Rath (Biotechnology, 2011) traded engineering for laughter, becoming a stand-up comedian, writer and performer known for Pretentious Movie Reviews and his distinctive observational comedy. His recent work continues across stand-up, writing and digital entertainment. Parag V. Havaldar (Computer Science & Engineering, 1991) took engineering into Hollywood, pioneering facial-performance technology that helped bring digital characters to life and earning an Academy Technical Achievement Award. He continues to work at the intersection of computer vision, graphics and visual storytelling.
Bedabrata Pain (Electronics & Electrical Communication Engineering, 1986) made perhaps the most dramatic transition—from NASA scientist and CMOS image-sensor pioneer to filmmaker and writer, winning National Film Awards for Chittagong. His work continues to bridge science, history and cinema. Arjun Sen (B.Tech, Aerospace Engineering, 1986) saw his extraordinary story of surviving cancer transformed into Shoojit Sircar’s I Want to Talk, starring Abhishek Bachchan. In 2024, Sen appeared alongside Sircar and Bachchan on Kaun Banega Crorepati; today he continues his work as an entrepreneur, author, speaker and host of the Secrets to Win Big podcast.
And the tradition goes back generations: Rajkumar Barjatya (Mining Engineering, joined KGP in 1962) went on to become a prominent film producer associated with Rajshri Productions and some of Hindi cinema’s most beloved films.
Their journeys are as different as their disciplines, but they share something unmistakably KGP: the courage to explore beyond the expected. The engineer can become an actor. The scientist can become a filmmaker. The statistician can become a screenwriter. The technologist can help create the magic of cinema.
That spirit of exploration continues today through the Academy of Classical and Folk Arts (ACFA). For alumni, it is an opportunity to reconnect with another essential part of the KGP experience—and to help ensure that future KGPians have the freedom to discover not only the engineer or scientist within them, but also the artist, performer and storyteller.
Support the Arts at IIT Kharagpur and help the next generation find its stage.
|
The IITKGP Foundation