Jitendra Joshi

Jitendra Joshi (born 27 January 1978) is an Indian actor, anchor, lyricist and producer who works primarily in Marathi cinema, in addition to appearing in Hindi films and streaming series. Known for his versatility across leading, supporting and antagonistic roles, he is the recipient of several accolades, including four Filmfare Awards Marathi, and four Maharashtra State Film Awards. Joshi began his acting career in Marathi television in 2001 and made his film debut with the Hindi comedy Praan Jaye Par Shaan Na Jaye (2003). He gained early recognition as a television anchor, most notably as a host of the show Campus: A Fair War, and as a lyricist wrote the popular Marathi song "Kombadi Palali" for Jatra (2005). He landed his first film lead in the romantic comedy Golmaal (2006), following a supporting role in Gulmohar (2009) and the commercially successful comedy Zhakaas (2011). His portrayal of the saint-poet in the biographical drama Tukaram (2012) earned him the Best Actor award at the Pune International Film Festivall, and reached wider audiences with the blockbuster Duniyadari (2013) and further roles in Baji (2015) and the cult favourite Kaakan (2015). Joshi received critical acclaim for his performance in the comedy drama Ventilator (2016) and the commercially successful comedy-drama Baghtos Kay Mujra Kar (2017), and rose to national prominence playing Constable Katekar in Sacred Games (2018), India's first Netflix original series. He won further awards for the comedy-drama Choricha Mamla (2020) and later co-founded the production house Blue Drop Films, producing and starring in the drama Godavari (2021), for which he became the first Marathi actor to win the Best Actor award at the International Film Festival of India. He earned further recognition for Naal 2 (2023) and the thriller Ghaath (2023), and appeared in the commercially successful comedy-horror Tumbadchi Manjula (2026).