Kota Factory’s Meena Aka Ranjan Raj Journey From IIT To Movies

Ranjan Raj who played Meena in Kota Factory in season 1 and season 2 is definitely one of the most loved characters on the show. The audience is fond of the nonchalant, innocent ways of Meena and the way Ranjan Raj has blown life into the character.

In one of our previous blogs, we told you how Meena is not Ranjan Raj’s first stint in acting. He already appeared in some blink-and-miss roles in Bollywood movies like Rustom and Chhichhore. What sets Ranjan apart from the rest of the cast is that he really gets into the skin of the character. This is partially because Ranjan Raj was himself an IITian. He tapped into his own journey of being an IIT aspirant to ace the role of Meena.

In an interview with Digital Commentary, Ranjan Raj narrates his journey from IIT Bombay to Bollywood to web series. He also explained why he quit a lucrative career to pursue his dream of acting.

While explaining his affinity towards Showbiz industry Ranjan Raj said,

“Video bahut dekhta tha, bhai, chacha, mama ke mobile mein – Kapil Sharma ke, ya jaise Vijay Raaz ka Run picture se. Hum yeh sab dekh ke bade hue aur mind mein humein yeh sab bahut funny lagta thi, ki arey yeh toh hum bhi kar hi sakte hain. Toh humesha lagta tha ki yeh toh cheez hai… shuru se hi uske taraf thoda toh mind tha,”

Talking further, he told the interviewer that Akshay Kumar and Mithun Chakraborthy are his all-time favourite actors. On constant encouragement from his friends, he finally quit engineering in his 6th year and dropped out of IIT to pursue theatre and acting.

“6th year tak ho gaya tha… ki yeh bas hauwa hai. Par abhi jo cheez karne mein maza aa raha hai, better hai woh karte hain. Graduation ho gai toh NSD chale jaenge… but phir seekhne, karne mein itne busy ho gae, graduation bhi durr durr tak dikh nahi rahi thi. Par seekhne karne mein busy tha, iska fayda bhi hua… Kota Factory se pehle hi 7 web series kar chuka tha main, TVF ke hi.”

Ranjan Raj also grappled with financial problems as his family had laid their expectations on him for he was studying in IIT.

“Jo soch ke aaye the, ki ghar ki aarthik stithi theek ho jaegi, jo sab dikkatein hain ghar pe theek kardunga…sabse chota, aur sabse zyada padhe-likhe hone ke baad, sabse zyada zimmedaari aa jaati hai. Ki aap engineer ban chuke ho, koi bana nahi ghar mein, koi nikla hi nahi ghar se, ab yeh ek nikla hai toh yeh zindagi humari theek karega. Family ko manane ki zarurat nahi thi, par mujhe hi lagta tha…phir vahi, main khudko convince kar leta hun, ki gharwale situation ko kal agar theek karein, better tareeke se theek karein, toh yehi bhi koi buri baat nahi. Thoda time lagega, par kaam toh main apna achhe se, din by din, theek karunga.”

When Ranjan Raj read the script of Kota Factory, he loved it but was doubtful if people could relate to the show. To his surprise, the show amassed loyal views and a legion of fans all across India.

“During the narration, jab Abhishek Yadav narrate kar rahe the, mujhe laga ki yeh aisa nahi ki bas vahi log samjhenge jo Physics, Chemistry samajhte hain? 3rd episode ka monologue mujhe bahut acha laga, kyunki maine relate kia. Lekin logon ko samajh aaega? Initially tha, ki yeh log accept karenge ya nahi karenge. But vahi, uski audience itni zyada thi, ki har kisi ne relate kar lia.”

Kota Factory Season 3 is on cards and it is for sure that Ranjan Raj’s story of success has just begun. People’s love, belief and his dedication towards his craft will surely take him a long way.

Watch the complete interview below