Kay Kay Menon is considered by many as one of the most underrated actors, a label that has followed the 57-year-old throughout his three-decade-long career. The actor, in his won admission, says he doesn’t know how to ‘rate’ himself, so he graciously accepts the tag. In his 30-year career, he has played various roles and shades that we can safely call ‘unconventional’ and ‘off-beat’. This is reflected not just in his choice of characters but also in the films he selects, such as Black Friday, Paanch, and Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, among others. The actor, who is currently busy promoting his upcoming series, Shekhar Home, however, has stayed away from projecting himself as a star. He prefers being recognised as an actor because, according to him, stardom equates to a lot of “hard work.”
“Paanch was my most seen and unreleased film,” he joked during a recent interview with Fever FM while stressing about how he chose acting over being a star. “I can’t be out there. It requires a certain potential which I don’t think I have…. Looking like a star and talking like a star are special skills and I don’t have them. It is pointless for me to try that!” he said, highlighting that a star needs an army of people to function.
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The actor, who maintains a low profile and seldom gets papped or seen at Bollywood parties, added that he doesn’t want a “background score” when he steps out of his house. “Ghar ke bahar nikalte hi background score nahin chahiye. If you’re a star, you need to be a certain way the minute you set your foot outside your house. Safari suit wale honge, unhe bhi lana hoga (implying bodyguards). Bahut sari cheezen hoti hain (There are just too many things.) You have to tell the press and your manager to coordinate. If you’re going to Prithivi theatre, you’ll have tip off the paps. All this is a game that you need to play and some people play it so well,” he added.
The actor revealed that he became aware of terms like ‘paps’ and ‘pap snap’ only recently and he doesn’t really understand how to navigate a scenario where he needs to be “out there.” “I don’t know how to do that. I can play it for one or two days, but I can’t sustain that. Ek hafte ke baad main kar nahin paunga (I won’t be able to do it after a week),” he added.
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Kay said before making the choice of opting for roles that don’t see him as larger than life or as the quintessential hero, he analysed himself and decided that he didn’t want the attention of media and paparazzi outside of his house because is not a game for adapting himself to the mechanism. “If it happens organically, I would handle but I won’t go out of my way to do all these things. So that is why you don’t see me at parties. But having said that, I will certainly attend the parties for my films and enjoy with the team,” he shared.
Set against the backdrop of Lonpur, a small town in Bengal in the early 1990s, Shekhar Home is an Indian adaptation of Sherlock Homes and will be streaming on Jio Cinema on August 14.
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