Jeet (actor)

Jeetendra Madnani, mononymously known as Jeet, is an Indian actor, film producer, singer, entrepreneur and television presenter known for his work in Bengali cinema. He owns the production houses "Grassroot Entertainment" and "Jeetz Filmworks". He is the Executive Secretary of "West Bengal Motion Picture Artists' Forum" and is one of the few actors known for doing commercial action films in Tollywood.

He made his film debut with a Telugu film, named Chandu that was released in 2001 which did not do that well at the box office. Further, Jeet moved on to do supporting roles and music videos in Bollywood. Later he moved on to do Bengali films and had his first breakthrough by portraying the lead character in Sathi, which became one of the highest grossing Bengali films of all time.

In a career spanning over two decades, he has become one of the highest paid and biggest stars of Bengali cinema throughout the years, receiving both critical acclaim and commercial success. Some of his commercially successful ventures includes Nater Guru (2003), Sangee (2003), Shubhodrishti (2005), Jor (2008), Dui Prithibi (2010), Josh (2010), Awara (2012), Fighter (2012), Boss: Born to Rule (2013), Deewana (2013), Bachchan (2014), Game (2014), Badsha – The Don (2016), Boss 2: Back to Rule (2017), Raavan (2022), Chengiz (2023) and Boomerang (2024). Chengiz became the first Bengali film to get a simultaneous Hindi release and became a commercial success.

He debuted as a producer in 2012 with his film 100% Love, which became a box-office success. He has also been a recipient of numerous awards including Tele Cine Awards, Anandalok Puraskar for the Best Actor, BFJA Awards (2003), Filmfare Awards East (2014), Bengali Film & Television Award (2023), Zee 24 Ghanta Ananya Samman (2024) and Kalakar Awards (2014) for "King of Tollywood" and many others.

Personal life
Jeet was born into a Sindhi family. He had reportedly been in a relationship with his co-star Swastika Mukherjee during the shooting of the film Mastan. Jeet subsequently married Mohna Ratlani, a school teacher from Lucknow, India, on 24 February 2011. They became parents to a daughter on 12 December 2012. In October 2023, Jeet and Mohna welcomed their second child and become parents to a son.

1993–96: Pre debut
Jeet started with modelling assignments and then shifted to serials like Bishabriksha in 1994–95, directed by Bishnu Palchaudhuri, in which he played Taracharan; In Janani by Bishnu Palchaudhuri, in which he played Anil; and Daughters of the Century by Tapan Sinha, in which he was cast in the role of Champiya.

2001–04: Debut and early career
Jeet collaborated with Haranath Chakraborty for Naater Guru, which had the debutante Koel Mallick in the female lead. He later acted with Priyanka Trivedi in the film Sangee, released on 26 December 2003. In 2004, his first film was with Raima Sen, named Shakti. His other films of the year include Premi (opposite debutant Chandana Sharma), Mastan, Aakrosh, and Bandhan.

2005–08: Critical and commercial success
In 2005, he acted in Yuddho along with Mithun Chakraborty, Debashree Roy and Koel Mallick. In 2005, Jeet collaborated with Mallick in Shubhodrishti and Manik, both directed by Prabhat Roy. Jeet won the Anandalok Awards for Best Actor for Manik.

Jeet again acted with Mallick in two consecutive films – Ghatak and Hero. He played Govindlal in Raja Sen's directional venture Krishnakanter Will, which starred Swastika Mukherjee and Monali Thakur as female leads. His next film was with Hrishitaa Bhatt, titled Bidhatar Lekha, which starred Priyanshu Chatterjee as the main antagonist. The film explores two lovers and their relationship in their last life that had come to a tragic end, and the pair confronts each other again in the current incarnation. He again collaborated with Mukherjee for the film Partner in 2008. Jeet collaborated with Varsha Priyadarshini for Jor which, made on a budget ₹1.25 crore, crossed seven weeks in theater and proved to be a hit at the box office.

2009–17: Further success
Jeet appeared with Mallick in the films Saat Paake Bandha and Neel Akasher Chandni. He starred in Dui Prithibi, which was released on 14 October 2010. Dui Prithibi was the highest grosser of 2010, according to a study conducted by FICCI and Deloitte.

Jeet next starred with Srabanti Chatterjee in Fighter, the remake of the Telugu film Lakshyam. He worked with Nusrat Jahan in Raj Chakraborty's action film Shotru, which was a remake of the Tamil film Singam. Roshni Mukherjee of The Times of India gave the film a positive review. Jeet reappeared with Priyanka Trivedi in Hello Memsaheb. In 2012 he became a producer with the movie 100% Love, in which he also acted together with Mallick. His second film in 2012 with Sayantika Banerjee was Awara, which was the highest-grossing film of the year 2012. In 2013, he appeared in the gangster action film Boss with Subhashree Ganguly which was a remake of Mahesh Babu's Businessman. Although the film received mixed reviews from critics, Jaya Biswas of The Times of India wrote that "Jeet [...] can dance, fight and emote as well." Jeet won the Kalakar Awards for The King of Tollywood for the film. He was also nominated for Best Actor in the inaugural ceremony of Filmfare Awards East.

Jeet acted in an extended special performance with Abir Chatterjee and Shraddha Das in Neeraj Pandey's debut Bengali production venture The Royal Bengal Tiger. Produced by Friday Filmworks and Jeet's Grassroot Entertainment and distributed by Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, the film turned out to be a critical and commercial success. Jeet's performance of a suave and slightly dangerous Anjan who completely transforms the main protagonist in the film, received critical acclaim. He also acted in Baba Yadav's second directional venture Game, in which he played an officer of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) working in the Indian Army. In 2014, Jeet co-starred with Aindrita Ray (in her debut Bengali film) in the film Bachchan, which was released on 3 October 2014, to positive response from critics as well as from audiences.

In 2015 he co-starred in the action comedy film Besh Korechi Prem Korechi with Koel Mallick. The film included Kharaj Mukherjee, Puneet Issar and Ashish Vidyarthi in lead roles. It was a remake of the Telugu movie Loukyam. In 2016, he starred in Power and Badsha – The Don. Directed by Baba Yadav, Badsha – The Don was an Indian-Bangladeshi action comedy film. Both films failed at the box office. He also played the lead role in Abhimaan. 2017 onwards all his films have been released under the banner of his own production houses "Grassroot Entertainment" and "Jeetz Filmworks". In 2017 he starred in Boss 2: Back to Rule, a sequel to his 2013 film Boss: Born to Rule. Jeet reprised his role of Surya aka Surya Bhai. An India-Bangladesh joint production directed by Baba Yadav, it features Subhashree Ganguly and Bangladeshi actress Nusraat Faria in the leading roles. It went on to become the fourth highest grossing Bengali film of all time grossing more than 10.5 crores.

2018–2021: Career fluctuations
In 2018, first he released Inspector Notty K. It failed at the box office and received negative reviews from the critics. Then he played the titular role in Sultan: The Saviour which is a remake of 2015 Tamil movie Vedalam. It was commercial success. His third film that year was Bagh Bandi Khela. In 2019, he first acted in the comedy-drama Baccha Shoshur. Then he co-starred in Shesh Theke Shuru with Koel Mallick. It was the 50th movie of Jeet since his first movie Chandu (2001) and it marked the collaboration between Jeet and Koel Mallick after 4 years since they last worked altogether in 2015 film Besh Korechi Prem Korechi. His third film in 2019 was Panther: Hindustan Meri Jaan. An action thriller directed by debutant Anshuman Pratyush, although majority of the audiences appreciated it, critics gave it overwhelmingly negative reviews. In 2020, Jeet starred in the critically acclaimed Asur directed by Pavel Bhattacharjee. It was a tribute to the sculptor Ramkinkar Baij. In 2021, he starred in Baazi, a film made under his production house Jeetz Filmworks, opposite Mimi Chakraborty. It was released in October during Puja holidays and became a box office failure.

2022–present: Comeback and commercial expansion
In 2022, he starred in Ravaan, a film made under his production house Jeetz Filmworks. It released on Eid al-Fitr. The film received moderate reviews and became successful at the box office. While Jeet's performance received praise, the plot and screenplay was criticised. In 2023, he starred in the action-thriller Chengiz which became the first Bengali film to be released simultaneously in both Bengali and Hindi languages on 21 April 2023. It received a superhit verdict and became the highest grossing Bengali film of 2023. His second film in 2023 was "Manush: Child of Destiny" with Jeetu Kamal, Sushmita Chatterjee and Bidya Sinha Saha Mim. It was also released in Hindi besides Bengali and performed average at the box office.

His next venture was Boomerang, which released on 7 June 2024 after it was postponed due to the 2024 General Elections. The first sci-fi comedy film of Bengal, the film was a superhit at the box office and received positive reviews from the critics and audience alike.

Brand endorsements
A relatively small budget ad of a regional brand of men's underwear had Jeet in the lead. He became the brand ambassador of Fashion at Big Bazaar (a unit of Future Group) on 18 September 2013. In 2005, a special Durga Puja campaign of Thums Up launched Jeet as their brand ambassador in West Bengal. Jeet launched the Times Food Guide 2012 in Kolkata.

Sports ventures
Jeet was also the ex-captain of the Bengal Tigers in the Celebrity Cricket League. Jeet had also acquired the Kolkata franchise of the first-ever multi-nation 2016 Premier Futsal season that started on 15 July 2016. The team is known as "Kolkata 5s" as each franchise was similarly named in the inaugural season.