Kay Kay Menon

Kay Kay Menon (born Krishna Kumar Menon, born 2 October 1966)[1] is an Indian film, stage and television actor who works predominantly in Hindi cinema, and also in Gujarati, Tamil, Marathi and Telugu cinema.

Not to be confused with Indian playback singer KK (singer).

Kay Kay Menon
Menon promoting Saat Uchakkey at Libas Store Mumbai, 2016
Born	(1966-10-02) October 2, 1966 Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
Nationality	Indian
Education	University of Pune, Department of Management Sciences (PUMBA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1995–present
Height	189 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Spouse(s)	Nivedita Bhattacharya

Early life

Menon was born in Kerala and raised in Ambarnath and Pune, Maharashtra.[1]

He studied at the St. Joseph High School in khadki, Pune.[2] He passed his 10th grade in 1981. He did his Bachelors (Physics)[1] from Mumbai University and his MBA from the Department of Management Sciences (PUMBA) at the University of Pune,[1] graduating in 1988 with a major in Marketing.

Menon's initial focus was working in the advertising industry[1] including Kinetic Honda and Marlboro cigarette advertisements in India.

Career

He started his career in theatre productions where he met Nivedita Bhattacharya, whom he married. His first theatre break was opposite Naseeruddin Shah in Feroz Abbas Khan's Mahatma vs Gandhi.[3]

In the early years of his career, Menon worked on television, with roles in the TV movies Zebra 2 and Last Train To Mahakali. He was praised for his role as a young Prime Minister in the Zee TV series Pradhan Mantri (2001), directed by Ketan Mehta. In The Hindu, Sevanti Ninan wrote, "an actor to watch: Kay Kay Menon ... this unusually tall actor who plays the pradhan mantri is a major saving grace"[4] while in The Tribune, Amita Malik commented, "excellent acting by Menon, who skilfully conveys the physical as well as mental image of the honest politician".[5]

Menon made his big screen debut with a small role in Naseem (1995), followed in 1999 by the lead role in Bhopal Express,[3] a movie that went mostly unnoticed. This was the first in a series of initial setbacks in Menon's film career. In the early 2000s, he starred as a wicked rock musician in Anurag Kashyap's debut movie, Paanch, which struggled with censorship and has remained unreleased.[6][7] Two other movies, Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi and Black Friday, had to wait many years for a release date. Meanwhile, his commercial films Deewar (starring Amitabh Bachchan) and Silsiilay (with Shahrukh Khan) flopped at the box office. It was only in 2005, with the eventual release of the critically acclaimed Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, but most of all with Ram Gopal Varma's Sarkar, that Menon had his break.[6] Sarkar earned him a nomination for the Best Performance in a Negative Role at the Filmfare Awards.[8] In The Tribune, Saibal Chatterjee called him "one of Bollywood's finest actors".[6]

In 2007, he acted in Life in a... Metro, as an adulterous husband. In 2008, he appeared in Shaurya[9][10] based on A Few Good Men . His portrayal of a ruthless army brigadier is still talked of among cinema lovers.[11][12] In 2009, he starred in The Stoneman Murders where he played a police officer on the hunt for the Stoneman serial killer.[13] He played the role of Dukki Bana in Gulaal.

His role as Khurram Mir in 2014's Haider bagged him a Filmfare and IIFA award for Best Supporting Actor. He played a very crucial role in Ghazi Attack as a Naval Captain based on an Indian Naval submarine, S21, intercepts a Pakistani submarine, PNS Ghazi, during routine surveillance and thwarts its mission of destroying INS Vikrant in 1971. He played a role as Vikram Singh in 2019's Penalty with co-actor Mohit Nain. He played a role as Himmat Singh in 2020's Special Ops - a web series for Hotstar.

Filmography

All films in Hindi unless otherwise stated.

Year	Film	Role	Notes
TBA	3 Dev[14]	Satyavan
TBA	Firrkie[15]
2019	San' 75 Pachattar[16]	Govind
2018	Ek Sangaychay		Marathi film
2018	Phamous	Kadak Singh
2018	Baa Baaa Black Sheep	ACP Shivraj Naik
2018	Vodka Diaries	ACP Ashwini Dixit
2018	Dhaad	Ghelo	Gujarati;[17] released 17 years after being shot
2017	The Ghazi Attack	Captain Ranvijay Singh	Telugu / Hindi
2016	Saat Uchakkey	Tejpal
2016	A Flying Jatt	Mr. Rakesh Malhotra
2015	Singh Is Bliing	Mark
2015	Bombay Velvet	Investigative Officer Vishwas Kulkarni
2015	Rahasya	CBI Officer Sunil Paraskar
2015	Baby	Bilal Khan
2014	Haider	Khurram Meer	International Indian Film Academy Awards for Best Performance in a Negative Role Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor[18] Nominated—BIG Star Entertainment Awards for Most Entertaining Actor in a Thriller Film – Male Nominated—International Indian Film Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Screen Awards for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Screen Awards for Best Actor in a Negative Role Nominated—Star Guild Awards for Best Actor in a Negative Role Nominated— Stardust Awards for Best Actor in a Negative Role
2014	Raja Natwarlal	Vardha Yadav
2013	Ankur Arora Murder Case	Dr. Asthana
2013	Udhayam NH4	Manoj Menon	Tamil film
2013	ABCD: Any Body Can Dance	Jehangir
2013	Enemmy	Naeem Shaikh
2012	Shahid	War saab
2012	Life Ki Toh Lag Gayi	Salman
2012	Chaalis Chouraasi	Albert Pinto
2011	Bhindi Baazaar	Shroff
2011	Bheja Fry 2	Ajit Talwar
2010	Benny And Babloo	Benny
2010	Lafangey Parindey	Anna
2010	Tera Kya Hoga Johnny	Inspector Shashikant Chiple
2009	Sankat City	Guru
2009	Aage se right	Janubhai/Baima Rashidul Kairi
2009	Gulaal	Dukey Bana
2009	The Stoneman Murders	Sanjay Shelar
2008	Drona	Riz Razaida
2008	Sirf	Gaurav
2008	Shaurya	Brigadier Rudra Pratap Singh
2008	Via Darjeeling	Ankur Sharma
2008	Mumbai Meri Jaan	Suresh
2008	Maan Gaye Mughal-e-Azam	Haldi Hasan
2008	Highway 203	Writer	Unreleased[19]
2008	Sarkar Raj	Vishnu Nagare
2007	Go	Nagesh Rao
2007	Life in a... Metro	Ranjeet	Nominated—International Indian Film Academy Awards for Best Performance in a Negative Role
2007	Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.	Partho Sen
2007	Strangers	Mr Rai
2006	Shoonya	Mahendra Naik
2006	Corporate	Ritesh Sahani	Nominated—GIFA Best Supporting Actor
2005	Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena	Kaif
2005	Main, Meri Patni Aur Woh	Akash
2005	Dansh	Mathew
2005	Sarkar	Vishnu Nagare	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role[8]
2004	Silsiilay	Anwar
2004	Deewaar	Sohail
2004	Black Friday	DCP Rakesh Maria	Released in theaters in 2007[20]
2003	Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi	Siddharth Tyabji	Released in theaters in 2005[21]
2003	Paanch	Luke	Unreleased[7]
2002	Chhal	Karan Menon
1999	Bhopal Express	Verma
1995	Naseem	Religious fundamentalist	Debut film[3]

Television

Year	Show	Role	Channel
1995-96	Darr	Inspector Avinash	Star Plus
1999	Star Bestsellers - Zebra 2	Captain Rajeev	Star Plus
1999	Star Bestsellers - Last Train to Mahakali	Sir	Star Plus
2000	Rishtey - Ward No. 6	Rajat	Zee TV
2001	Pradhan Mantri	PM Anirudh Prakash	Zee TV
2014	Yudh	Municipal Commissioner	Sony TV

OTT / Webseries

Year	Title	Role	Network
2018	The Great Indian Dysfunctional Family	Vikram Ranaut	ALTBalaji
2020	Special OPS	Himmat Singh	Hotstar

References

1. Gupta, Priya (29 September 2014). "Kay Kay Menon: I take my work seriously, not myself". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
2. Ravi, Shruti (19 January 2012). "Pune is like Mumbai now, says Kay Kay Menon". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
3. Gupta, Priya (30 September 2014). "Kay Kay Menon: I take my work seriously, not myself". The Times of India. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
4. Ninan, Sevanti (22 April 2001). "Melodrama with a K". The Hindu. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
5. Malik, Amita (27 April 2001). "Mantris in tough competition". The Tribune. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
6. Chatterjee, Saibal (28 August 2005). "A man among boys". The Tribune. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
7. Shrivastava, Vipra (26 December 2014). "Seven reasons why Anurag Kashyap is the 'ugliest' filmmaker". India Today. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
8. "2006 Filmfare Awards". Retrieved 30 November 2015.
9. "A Few Hindoo'd Men".
10. "Masand's Verdict: Shaurya".
11. "Drona reminded me of my childhood".
12. "Drona makers spend a fortune on villain".
13. Vijayakar, Rajiv (20 February 2009). "The Stoneman Murders (Hindi)". Screen India. Archived from the original on 25 February 2009. Retrieved 28 February 2009.
14. Zee Music Company, 3 Dev - Official Trailer |Karan Singh Grover, Ravi Dubey, Kunaal Roy Kapur, Kay Kay Menon, Raima Sen, retrieved 2 January 2019
15. Firrkie, retrieved 2 January 2019
16. T-Series, SAN 75 (Pachattar) Official Theatrical Trailer | Kay Kay Menon, Kirti Kulhari, Tom Alter | T-Series, retrieved 2 January 2019
17. Oza, Nandini (5 January 2018). "After 17 years, Gujarati film Dhaad starring Nandita Das set for release". The Week.
18. "Queen and Haider rule at Filmfare awards". The National. 1 February 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
19. Highway 203 on IMDb. Retrieved on 8 September 2016
20. "Moving beyond art". The Telegraph. 25 January 2009. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
21. "Hazaaron Revisited". The Telegraph. 18 October 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2015.

External links

• Kay Kay Menon on IMDb
• Kay Kay Menon at Rotten Tomatoes
• Kay Kay Menon Complete Filmography
• Kay Kay Menon at Bollywood Hungama