Kay Kay Menon says Vidhu Vinod Chopra compared his Paanch performance to Robert De Niro’s in Taxi Driver: ‘Thought I had arrived in the industry, but then…’

Paanch was Anurag Kashyap's directorial debut, which ran into trouble with the CBFC over depiction of drug abuse, violence and use of foul language. The film never released theatrically.

By: Entertainment Desk

Mumbai | Updated: August 27, 2023 01:59 PM IST

3 min read

Actor Kay Kay Menon talks about his unreleased film Paanch. (Photo: Kay Kay Menon/Instagram, IMDb)

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One can deliver a great performance and may even earn the best compliments, but in the film industry, careers truly take off when an actor gives a successful film. Actor Kay Kay Menon says his unreleased film Paanch, directed by Anurag Kashyap, taught him a “big lesson” about the unpredictable nature of showbiz.

Paanch was Anurag’s directorial debut, which ran into trouble with the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) over the depiction of drug abuse, violence and use of foul language. The film was later cleared by the CBFC but didn’t get a theatrical release due to some problems faced by the producers.

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In an interview with The Lallantop, Kay Kay Menon opened up about the time he was raring to showcase his talent to the industry with Paanch, but it jolted him when things didn’t go as planned.

“That taught me a big lesson. Every week Tutu Sharma (producer) would put a hoarding out and tell me, ‘It’s releasing now, don’t sign anything now!’ We didn’t know it would never be released, we were in that josh, that once it releases, we will show everyone. But, of course, nothing of that sort happened. I call it the most seen but unreleased film! So many people have seen it.”

Kay Kay recalled a screening of Paanch, which was attended by filmmaker Vidhu Vindo Chopra. “In his style, he announced it in front of everyone, ‘Kay Kay, you were as good, if not better, as De Niro in Taxi Driver!’ Mujhe laga ab kamaal ho jayega mera industry mein, par kuch nahi hua (I thought I had arrived, but nothing really happened). People will compliment you, but until and unless it releases, becomes successful… Our industry is such. But even we were stubborn. We kept at it.”

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The actor said Paanch, also starring Aditya Srivastava, Vijay Maurya, Joy Fernandes, and Tejaswini Kolhapure, came after Manoj Bajpayee’s gangster drama Satya, a film which he credits opened the doors for “unconventional” actors like him. Kay Kay said Paanch was a result of passionate filmmaking.

“Manoj had opened doors for actors like us. Satya had an unconventional looking actor and it became a hit. Manoj did a phenomenal job in it. Thanks to that, the doors opened for actors like us who were unconventional, we started getting acceptance. The conventional people felt what kind of film is this, what kind of a protagonist is he.

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“It didn’t bother me though. I had to build body, which I did, learn how to swim. I didn’t know swimming back then, so I acted like I was diving, but it was Anurag who went inside the water, he was my body double!” he added.

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