Posted:
Honeymoon's Nerdy Hubby: Kay Kay Menon
Courtesy: IndiaFM
Thursday, February 22, 2007
An actor of great aplomb and tremendous talent, Kay Kay Menon has finally managed to change the face of Bollywood filmy acting to Hollywood method acting. Blame it on his pure creative streak or raw sensibilities, Kay Kay today has earned himself a line of ardent admirers including likes of Anurag Kashyap to Pritish Nandy. And having performed a gamut of diverse characters in his not so conventional flicks from Bhopal Express to Hazarein Khwaishen Aisi, Sarkar to Corporate, Kay Kay will now be seen doing a sarcasm dripping jig in Reema Kagti's mainstream cinema, Honeymoon Travels
So get into the groove as IndiaFM gets chatting with this extraordinary man in a league of other amazing actors .. all a part and parcel of Honeymoon Travels
With the kind of work you have done so far, it has labeled you as a non-conventional actor... and Honeymoon Travels... seems to be very mainstream. So will it not affect your created image?
No, I seriously don't think about image and all. I really don't try to be purposely different because that doesn't succeed. For me a script, a character each time is automatically different the same way as you and I are different in real life and your story is not my story. Each script has a different story and each script has a different character, so as long as you play your character loyally and adhere to what the demand of the script is without flaunting your ego unnecessary on screen you know then you are playing a role and it automatically becomes different. And I love the role offered to me in Honeymoon Travels along with the whole story and the setup of the film. In fact I love everything about this film and so I had to be a part of it the same way as I would be part of Black Friday for example, same way as I would be a part of any other film.
Finally Black Friday has been released... how does it feel?
After a ban of 2 years and a whole lot of other problems, the film is eventually released, and I would say Hats-off to the producers for sustaining such a cumbersome court case and fighting it through. I feel extremely proud being part of such a film and it feels good that we have at last won this little battle. Secondly, Hats-off to the audience for the kind of response given to the film, my respect for them has tremendously increased. Black Friday goes to show that today cinema has come of age and audiences too have come of age. They have a broader view of things and so according to me I think now is a real good time for good cinema. Because in times where all kinds of cinema can peacefully co-exist you know the audiences have become more receptive and that's a very big thing for Indian cinema.
Special mention to the Banana scene in Black Friday
It is something that seems comical but is actually a serious thing which happens. I mean they haven't eaten since 48 hours. So wherever you see any kind of food, you will jump on it. I mean it's a normal human tendency so that's how it is. Actually it is bound to happen in a situation like that. Today when you are well fed and you are sitting and watching the movie it might seem funny but actually it's the need of the hour because at that moment your mind, your body doesn't function normally, it get fatigued without food. So that's how it was. It was there in the script and that's how it was shown in the movie.
Coming back to Honeymoon Travels... your character though serious one has an underlying humorous streak to it...
I play a very nerdy stereotyped of a husband in the film, who is not at all jovial kinds while the film deals with enlightenment of various couples in terms of the journey taken and how they see the positive aspect of their relationship.
And how's your journey on the Honeymoon bus been?
It was great. Infact each one of us had loads of fun. We were a whole bunch of crazy people in the bus including actors and technicians. The atmosphere was absolutely happy-go-lucky and truly fantastic. I've really enjoyed the film to the hilt by not just being the actor but also as an extra standing in the frame during the filming of other's scenes so we were like indirect spectators of the film.
It was a whole ensemble cast in the true sense and one which was absolutely egoless. In all it was great fun. We played antakshari, word building games and had all sorts of fun. The film was like one big party!
What is the narrative in the film like?
It starts off with the bus, it goes to Goa and then you have each relationship being looked at by the Director and the Scriptwriter in a very weird manner. It's humorous and it's thought provoking at the same time.
How was it being directed by a female debutante ...Reema Kagti
I really don't mind the gender of my director, female - male doesn't matter. It's what potential the person has which matters and Reema is extremely - extremely talented and the way she has written the script by the end of her narration I was feeling so good, I was smiling and I said I have to be part of this movie.
The cast in the film is quiet big that too filled with veterans like Boman Irani and Shabana Azmi, what was your experience?
That's what I meant. See the whole bunch of people right from Shabana Azmi, Boman Irani to Sandhya Mridul, Vikram Chatwal you know Amisha, Karan Khanna, Diya Mirza, Ranvir Shorey. We had Raima, Minissha and Abhay. So you have whole bunch of people who were out there to make a film, not to pander each one's ego . So it was a great fun.
What's so special about Honeymoon Travels...
I think it's the most unique, the most weirdest way of looking at relationships of all ages, of all caste and creed, of all strata and this movie has got perhaps the most skewed and the most weird way of looking at it
You've been called a method actor... kindly explain
I think there is a method in everything. It's a very bloated phenomenon of method acting and non-method acting. The biggest thing that is a fallacy in understanding Stanisflasky's method school of acting is that Stanisflasky said that this is "A method" not "The method" that's the basic essential difference. So if I want to read the script I am following the method. If I'm listening to you as a director I'm following a method. The methods might be different but everything has a method. If I drive on the left lane in my car it's a method. You cannot escape method as there is a method to everything that you do, there is even a method to madness that you do.
How has your journey so far in the industry been? There were many achievements but have you had any disappointments as well ...
See I think disappointments and drawbacks are essential in life otherwise you would never enjoy the pluses of life. So I think all those little debacles, little drawbacks that have happened in life holds you in the good strength because then you can value your success; you can value your achievements more and value it in the right spirit. Disappointments help not let success go to your head. So, for one to be grounded I think drawbacks and such stuff is essential.
Every actor or director has a mentor or some orientation to begin with. Based on whom and whose work have you grown up as an actor I've actually grown up in mostly Hollywood and European cinema and old Hindi films, right from Vijay Anand to Gurudutt to everybody of the old school, to Satyajit Ray, Prithvi - everybody. It's actually an amalgamation of so many things. So for me cinema is something that needs to be viewed at that moment and nothing more - the problem with most of us is that when you view cinema you start possessing it and that's the bad thing to happen.
One should view cinema as cinema as somebody else's work and if you view it dispassionately and understand the kind of things that this person has tried to do then perhaps you appreciate the cinema more and then it helps you in your own work as well because you then adapt those kind of philosophies in real life and while working.
And that has been the procedure for me I never go and posses any cinema because if I have seen Ray or if I have seen Gurudutt, it doesn't mean that I want to do Pyassa or I want to do a Kagaz Ke Phool. For me it is just a brilliant piece of work to be seen again and again and again. So that's how I view cinema and that will truly inspire you because you are not possessing it.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
An actor of great aplomb and tremendous talent, Kay Kay Menon has finally managed to change the face of Bollywood filmy acting to Hollywood method acting. Blame it on his pure creative streak or raw sensibilities, Kay Kay today has earned himself a line of ardent admirers including likes of Anurag Kashyap to Pritish Nandy. And having performed a gamut of diverse characters in his not so conventional flicks from Bhopal Express to Hazarein Khwaishen Aisi, Sarkar to Corporate, Kay Kay will now be seen doing a sarcasm dripping jig in Reema Kagti's mainstream cinema, Honeymoon Travels
So get into the groove as IndiaFM gets chatting with this extraordinary man in a league of other amazing actors .. all a part and parcel of Honeymoon Travels
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No, I seriously don't think about image and all. I really don't try to be purposely different because that doesn't succeed. For me a script, a character each time is automatically different the same way as you and I are different in real life and your story is not my story. Each script has a different story and each script has a different character, so as long as you play your character loyally and adhere to what the demand of the script is without flaunting your ego unnecessary on screen you know then you are playing a role and it automatically becomes different. And I love the role offered to me in Honeymoon Travels along with the whole story and the setup of the film. In fact I love everything about this film and so I had to be a part of it the same way as I would be part of Black Friday for example, same way as I would be a part of any other film.
Finally Black Friday has been released... how does it feel?
After a ban of 2 years and a whole lot of other problems, the film is eventually released, and I would say Hats-off to the producers for sustaining such a cumbersome court case and fighting it through. I feel extremely proud being part of such a film and it feels good that we have at last won this little battle. Secondly, Hats-off to the audience for the kind of response given to the film, my respect for them has tremendously increased. Black Friday goes to show that today cinema has come of age and audiences too have come of age. They have a broader view of things and so according to me I think now is a real good time for good cinema. Because in times where all kinds of cinema can peacefully co-exist you know the audiences have become more receptive and that's a very big thing for Indian cinema.
Special mention to the Banana scene in Black Friday
It is something that seems comical but is actually a serious thing which happens. I mean they haven't eaten since 48 hours. So wherever you see any kind of food, you will jump on it. I mean it's a normal human tendency so that's how it is. Actually it is bound to happen in a situation like that. Today when you are well fed and you are sitting and watching the movie it might seem funny but actually it's the need of the hour because at that moment your mind, your body doesn't function normally, it get fatigued without food. So that's how it was. It was there in the script and that's how it was shown in the movie.
Coming back to Honeymoon Travels... your character though serious one has an underlying humorous streak to it...
I play a very nerdy stereotyped of a husband in the film, who is not at all jovial kinds while the film deals with enlightenment of various couples in terms of the journey taken and how they see the positive aspect of their relationship.
And how's your journey on the Honeymoon bus been?
It was great. Infact each one of us had loads of fun. We were a whole bunch of crazy people in the bus including actors and technicians. The atmosphere was absolutely happy-go-lucky and truly fantastic. I've really enjoyed the film to the hilt by not just being the actor but also as an extra standing in the frame during the filming of other's scenes so we were like indirect spectators of the film.
It was a whole ensemble cast in the true sense and one which was absolutely egoless. In all it was great fun. We played antakshari, word building games and had all sorts of fun. The film was like one big party!
What is the narrative in the film like?
It starts off with the bus, it goes to Goa and then you have each relationship being looked at by the Director and the Scriptwriter in a very weird manner. It's humorous and it's thought provoking at the same time.
How was it being directed by a female debutante ...Reema Kagti
I really don't mind the gender of my director, female - male doesn't matter. It's what potential the person has which matters and Reema is extremely - extremely talented and the way she has written the script by the end of her narration I was feeling so good, I was smiling and I said I have to be part of this movie.
The cast in the film is quiet big that too filled with veterans like Boman Irani and Shabana Azmi, what was your experience?
That's what I meant. See the whole bunch of people right from Shabana Azmi, Boman Irani to Sandhya Mridul, Vikram Chatwal you know Amisha, Karan Khanna, Diya Mirza, Ranvir Shorey. We had Raima, Minissha and Abhay. So you have whole bunch of people who were out there to make a film, not to pander each one's ego . So it was a great fun.
What's so special about Honeymoon Travels...
I think it's the most unique, the most weirdest way of looking at relationships of all ages, of all caste and creed, of all strata and this movie has got perhaps the most skewed and the most weird way of looking at it
You've been called a method actor... kindly explain
I think there is a method in everything. It's a very bloated phenomenon of method acting and non-method acting. The biggest thing that is a fallacy in understanding Stanisflasky's method school of acting is that Stanisflasky said that this is "A method" not "The method" that's the basic essential difference. So if I want to read the script I am following the method. If I'm listening to you as a director I'm following a method. The methods might be different but everything has a method. If I drive on the left lane in my car it's a method. You cannot escape method as there is a method to everything that you do, there is even a method to madness that you do.
How has your journey so far in the industry been? There were many achievements but have you had any disappointments as well ...
See I think disappointments and drawbacks are essential in life otherwise you would never enjoy the pluses of life. So I think all those little debacles, little drawbacks that have happened in life holds you in the good strength because then you can value your success; you can value your achievements more and value it in the right spirit. Disappointments help not let success go to your head. So, for one to be grounded I think drawbacks and such stuff is essential.
Every actor or director has a mentor or some orientation to begin with. Based on whom and whose work have you grown up as an actor I've actually grown up in mostly Hollywood and European cinema and old Hindi films, right from Vijay Anand to Gurudutt to everybody of the old school, to Satyajit Ray, Prithvi - everybody. It's actually an amalgamation of so many things. So for me cinema is something that needs to be viewed at that moment and nothing more - the problem with most of us is that when you view cinema you start possessing it and that's the bad thing to happen.
One should view cinema as cinema as somebody else's work and if you view it dispassionately and understand the kind of things that this person has tried to do then perhaps you appreciate the cinema more and then it helps you in your own work as well because you then adapt those kind of philosophies in real life and while working.
And that has been the procedure for me I never go and posses any cinema because if I have seen Ray or if I have seen Gurudutt, it doesn't mean that I want to do Pyassa or I want to do a Kagaz Ke Phool. For me it is just a brilliant piece of work to be seen again and again and again. So that's how I view cinema and that will truly inspire you because you are not possessing it.
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