Kay Kay Menon | He is one gem of an actor and what makes him so is his down-to-earth nature and not to mention natural acting skills. He speaks with Musba Hashmi about his debut and how he is dispassionately passionate about his projects
Tell us about your character Himmat Singh in Special OPS?
He is a chief analyst with RAW. He is the brain behind all the strategies and plans. He has to deal with his personal and professional life without one affecting the other. He is an interesting character in all. He tries to be as fair as possible with his team.
What made you take up the role?
Neeraj Pandey, Sheetal Bhatia and I have known each for the longest of time. Neeraj’s writing are very exclusive and he has a skewed way of looking at a scene. Whenever he writes the screenplay, it will surprise you everytime. At the same time he has got great sense of humour even at the darkest of situations. He has a special flair for writing and that makes it all the more interesting. Another reason was when I read the script for the first time, I was about to just read the first episode but I read the complete series in one go, The story was that interesting and gripping. The man behind the machine and the machine itself were extremely good and was the reason for me to say yes.
How did Naseem happen?
It was my debut. I used to do theatres a lot those days. The film happened with me because Mak (Makrand Deshpande) thought that I was the best actor back then. We used to do our rehearsals together. One fine day he told me ‘come lets meet Saeed Akhtar Mirza (writer-director of the film)’. He saw me and suddenly the role of that religious fundamentalist came about and I was casted for that.
How easy or tough was the way ahead?
It is like any other profession. Ups and downs do happen, but that’s not a matter to worry about. I also did TV when it was not like what it’s today. We used to do small films and one hour episodes. The journey was good. It was a time when people believed if you are a brilliant actor then you can only do negative roles. We started from there. One thing that we maintained was persistence and every thing went well.
What are the things that you look out for before taking up a project?
I don’t compartmentalise it. It is just like an attraction to the project. The moment I feel like I have to do this, I go for it. At the same time, I am at a stage when I have a lot of substantial stuff to do and not something which I am over-qualified for. So this is one thing that I look for rest everything falls in place.
A role that came close to you or the ones that was most challenging?
I find these questions very difficult to answer, I am not that narrow minded as an actor. Everything that I have done is equally close to my heart. As for challeging, there is nothing as such. Challenging is a word used by those who don’t have the capability or capacity of doing it. I see things as interesting or uninteresting. And I have done a lot of interesting stuff along with uninteresting ones too. It’s been a journey and journey can’t be unidirectional. There are always twists and turns, the same has been for me. I too have seen ups and downs, but at the end of it I can sum it up by saying ‘no complaints’.
A project that you were apprehensive about but it came out well.
Nothing as such. I don’t usually jump into something without knowing what it is. There are many projects otherwise where I thought this particular script has good potential to make it big and I got involved with it but it didn’t turn out well. You can’t do much about these things. You can just only with go with good intention about it as an actor and how will it turn out depends on the destiny of the product.
Is it hard to cope with such disappointments?
Initially, I used to feel flustered when a project didn’t do well or like I expected. But then I realised the best way to live an artist’s life is to dispassionately passsionate about things. By this I mean, I am extremely passionate when I am working but the moment the last day is over I become dispassionate about it. I don’t hold on to the longing of it because that is beyond my control. After I have completed shooting, I would look at it like any other and not like the one who have been a part of it.
It makes life easier, if I would continue hanging upon it then I would have been landed in a mental asylum by now. (laughs)
How do you define acting? What is your approach towards it?
I am a simulator. I simulate things and make it as believable as possible, that’s my intent when I am acting. I try and make things so believable that I can even work if sci-fi movie. Many people indulge in realism talks but realism is a myth. The moment you have editing process, realism can’t exist because you are jumping in time. Realism happens in real time. If you will look for it, you can’t make sci-fi movie. Take for example Avatar, it is a sci-fi movie but it is extremely believable. It should be ina way where one can feel, touch and smell the characters. That has been my motto.
