Enkayaar, Bollywood Trade News Network

There is a very broad contour of distinction between a star and an actor. Ninety percent of the actors try to become stars through the roles that they play, and here the character actors are not being talked about. Only ten percent are those who want to seep inside the character and let the character speak about itself on the screen. After the death of Sanjeev Kumar there was no actor who could fill this slot for nearly twenty years. The advent of Kay Kay Menon on the silver screen, however seems to be filling the gap with an accomplishment. Here is an actor, who inspite of etching multitude of roles has not let his persona dominate the role but it is the persona that overpowers the actor.

Kay Kay would be probably the first Malyali who has come to establish himself with assertion in the Hindi films, without making any name for him so far in Malyali cinema. In fact he has not acted in any South Indian films to date.

He has also not taken a long time to establish himself as a worthy successor to Sanjeev Kumar. The feat has been established in a period of less than three years. The success that he has achieved has been owing to the relentless pursuit that he has made about acting since he was nine years of age. From an age of nine years he was a regular at the Prithvi Theatre and he honed his skills of acting within the haloed portals of Prithvi Theatre.

The same therefore reflects in all his characters, be it in BHOPAL EXPRESS or SARKAR, or METRO. The sense of suppressed arrogance that he conveyed in SARKAR when Abhishek was killing him reminds one instantly of the same passionate performances by Sanjeev Kumar. In the same manner the transformation that his character undergoes in HAZAARO KHWAHISHEN AISI from brash urban to a rural naxalite is difficult to etch out in normal circumstances, as the star tends to dominate the persona usually. Rakesh Maria of BLACK FRIDAY is one of the other memorable roles that Kay Kay has been able to add to his repertoire owing to his ability to portray the character, and it reminds one of the roles of Thakur that Sanjeev Kumar did for SHOLAY. The angst of urban existence that he brings about in METRO again takes one back to Sanjeev Kumar of GHARONDA days.

The impromptu dance that he broke into in HONEYMOON TRAVELS PRIVATE LIMITED is able to convey the existentialist struggle that the character is undergoing in its attempt to break the shackles of tradition, as also the shyness to do a tango. Comedy also seems to be his natural flavour and he has the meanness of a corporate world as well, as he was able to portray in CORPORATE. The diversified varieties of directors that he has worked with right from Sudhir Mishra, to Madhur Bhandarkar, to Ram Gopal Verma speaks volume about his performances. It is also a testimony to the fact that inspite of having a very limited oeuvre as a profile, he was picked by all the directors who carry the tag of being different.

As a fitting tribute to his affinity in characterization to Sanjeev Kumar, Makrand Deshpande has decided to cast him in 14 different roles for a film, and it would be a fitting test for this actor and would establish himself with conviction as a perfect replacement for Sanjeev Kumar.