Actor/ Co-Founder, Tennis Premier League
His, is a household face. For years he’s graced your television screens with one successful primetime show after the another – Uttaran, Kahaani Hamaaray Mahaabhaarat Ki, Bandini, Looteri Dulhan, Hitler Didi, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, Box Cricket League, Bandhan, Box Cricket League (Season 2), Nagarjuna- Ek Yoddha, among others.
But no matter how many shows he’s done and how many awards won, Mrunal Jain remains a ‘small town guy’ at heart. Born in a Marwari Jain family in Ahmedabad, Mrunal completed his studies in Mumbai.
A boon, for he always wished to be an actor. Even when he joined his father’s business after college, at the end of the day, he would hit the gym and prepare for acting.
His first step towards this goal was Gladrags Mr India 2007, where he made it to the top 10. From there his life followed the predictable journey from modelling campaigns to acting workshops and screen tests.
That is, until he landed the role of Lord Krishna in Ekta Kapoor’s ‘Kahaani Hamaaray Mahaabhaarat Ki’ in 2008. The next five years saw Mrunal in back-to-back hit shows till he landed the biggest of them all – Uttaran. Uttaran helped change his on-screen persona from macho to romantic and provided great visibility in and outside the industry. So much so that 2017 saw him participate in an international reality show in Indonesia.
Speaking about the fickle nature of the profession, Mrunal shares, “Actors do break when there is a pause, the gold does not glitter forever. Thus, I feel an actor must think about a second option in addition to their acting career. You play many roles on screen, then why not incorporate the same in your life?”
This has brought Mrunal to the brink of OTTs. “I’m working on the OTT medium as well, including production. If all goes well, I’ll be sharing the details soon,” he says.
However, the biggest cherry on his cake is soon going to be Rohit Shetty’s much awaited ‘Sooryavanshi’, where he’s part of the main star cast. ‘Kushal Mangal’ will be his next foray into the movies.
Yet, following his own advice, Mrunal co-founded the unique ‘Tennis Premier League’ in 2018. The TPL, being the first of its kind, aims to cater to the growing popularity of tennis and give a platform to the nation’s young talent. It also equips them with the confidence to battle global competition with each team having a top 10 ranked player from India and some international players as well.
The league has witnessed two very successful seasons in 2018 October and 2019 December. All the top ranked players of India participated and the best coaches of the country mentored their respective teams. Along with the support of famous celebrities this is undoubtedly one of the biggest tennis events in India. Team owners include celebrities such as Rakul Preet Singh, Sonali Bendre Behl, Aditi Rao Hydari, Divya Khosla Kumar and other corporates.
Adventure and exploration of any kind fuels Mrunal. While his favourite travel destinations include Maldives and NYC, what he really desires is to travel from Mumbai to London by road – a 52 days, 15000 kms journey!
His other hidden talents include photography and editing. A selftaught editor, he started editing from his mobile before developing the skill later. He is also a car enthusiast. If not an actor, he’s sure he would have been in the automobile sector as his car is his “hard-earned baby”.
Mrunal is also active on social media, especially Instagram where he regularly posts pictures with his wife, Sweety Jain. Talking about social media, he adds, “Brand building is definitely good, maintaining a position in the right way and at the right place is no harm. Posting regularly is not important, posting quality content is of importance. So, it’s about the content, its uniqueness and talent. For instance, take ‘Super Car Blondy’ – before any car is launched in the market, she is invited to review and test drive the car, which is awesome.”
Mrunal says his biggest turnon is an intelligent brain with a matching action plan, as lots of people have brains but do not know how to execute. Thankfully then, he’s not one of them. Ask him how he would like to be remembered, and he answers, “A guy who gives his best and goes an extra mile for all his work.”
