As an actor he has already established himself on television, but his progress in sports, especially in the game of Table Tennis is really remarkable.. Kapil Kumar has worked very hard over the years, in this balancing act between acting professtion and his favourite sport of Table Tennis. For fulfilling his commitments to acting profession, he had taken a long break of ten years from competitive table tennis, but continued with regular exercises to remain fit, which is equally important in his profession.
After making his comeback to Table Tennis in the Veterans’ section 20 years ago, Kapil has performed extremely well at the National and International level tournaments in Men’s 40+ and 50+ categories. Besides performing at State and National Masters’championship, he participated in Wiorld Veterans’ TT Championships at places like Sudan, Spain, Germany and Las Vegas and also South Asian Veterans’ TT championship at Sri Lanka. He kept on winning Consolation prizes and medals at these events.
In this year’s World Veterans ‘TT Championship at Muscat, Oman, he won a Consolation Prize in Mixed doubles along with Geeta Tandon. Today at 60, he has won four titles in one season, which is really commendable. This too, besides managing his shooting schedules of films and television serials.
Kapil Kumar originally from Delhi, came to Mumbai as a 19 year old youngster after finishing his education in law. He even joined a reputed Solicitor firm and began his career in this profession. But, his love for acting pushed him into acting profession. Kapil gave auditions at various studios and was selected by B.R. Chopra studios through talent search for their mega serial ‘Mahabharat’ for the role of ‘Shalya’ and he did about 20 episodes in this mega serial. This was enough for him to find his entry into the tinsel world. During this period, he had to make a decision to leave his job and opt full time for acting. His parents supported his decision. He had to struggle initially, but joined YMCA Andheri to play his favourite sport Table Tennis during this period. Whenever he was free any hour of the day, he went and played this game.
Multi- talented Kapil Kumar who is also a writer, wrote his own sports based script and wanted to cast popular actor Akshay Kumar for his own production. But, somehow due to non availability of Akashy’s dates, he could not go ahead with that project. But, he wrote scripts for TV serials and produced and directed serials like ‘Kashish’, ‘Khishiyan’, ‘Bajega Band Bajaa’, ‘Hai Re Majboori’ for DD National channel. This was followed by his performances in TV serials like ‘Barish’, ‘Jab Khuli Kitaab’,’ Ishq Ki Patang’,’ Ghum Hai Kisike Pyar Mein’,’ ‘Moh Ke Dhage’,’’Nagin-2’, ‘Savitri’,’Rishtey’ and others. He also appeared in commercial ads for Axis Bank, Safola Oil, Colgate etc. to get the recognition as a celebrity.
Talking about his passion for the game of Table Tennis, Kapil Kumar says, “It is because of this game I am living a happy life. Sports teaches you to build your character and the game of table tennis has done this for me. When I first came to Mumbai, I played at Andheri YMCA, where Deepak Mani was a coach. Later, I played with players like Sachin Shetty, Sanil Shetty, Aman Balgu regularly. All of them earned a good name in TT at the national and international level. I used to play TT regularly and that helped me to improvise my game. Today, I am playing in the Massters’ events at the national and international level and love the competitive atmosphere.”
It was interesting to know as to how he manages this balancing act between acting and sports. When he was asked about it, he said, “It was not difficult at all, with proper time management. As the dates of state, national and international TT tournaments are announced well in advance, you can plan your shooting schedule accordingly. So, when I am not playing any competition, I am shooting. I enjoy every moment in these two fields.”
Kapil Kumar is happy with whatever God has offered him so far. Concluding our talk philosophically, about his way of living life, he says, “Five things are very important to live a happy life. ‘Good health, Money, Friends, Family and Love. Lst two are most important. Without the love from your family, you cannot progress. Your proper upbringing during your childhood is also very essential.”