After doing memorable roles like Kali Babu in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas, inspector Indrajeet Saxena in Fareb, Bali Thakur in Virasat and Nanji Bhai in Phir Hera Pheri, among many others, actor Milind Gunaji calls his performance in Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 his comeback film, despite doing a string of Marathi and Telugu films in the recent past. He also did Ashutosh Gowarikar Panipat in 2019. Milind is also very happy that Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 is rocking at the box office, and feels grateful that “finally people are taking notice of my work”. In this interview with indianexpress.com, the actor of the 90s and 2000s opens up about rediscovering himself, being typecast, and wanting to do more work than ever. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Milind Gunaji (@milindgunaji) In his sixties, Milind calls Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 his big Bollywood comeback. “Anees Bazmee really has a great sense of humour and Aakash Kaushik wrote such a beautiful script, so entertaining. So, as soon as I came to know Anees Bazmee is directing the film I had to say yes. Right from my prime when I did Fareb and Virasat, Anees ji and I were planning to work together on a film, but it never happened. Suddenly I was told that he is directing Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and wants me to play this character. It is a big film franchise and the director is so great, it has come to me as a blessing in disguise. For the first time, my role is from the first frame to the last frame. I don't remember doing such a full length role in a long time. My roles in other films, like Devdas, were appreciated too, but they were also not full length roles, they were small roles.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Milind Gunaji (@milindgunaji) He says, “In Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, acting-wise, there is not a huge scope for me. Now I am excited for Hit, my film with Rajkumar Rao, as it really showcases my acting prowess. But Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 is like my comeback to films. I have a good line up of film - it started with Ajay Devgn's Rudra, where I was cast opposite Ajay Devgn in a negative role. I feel blessed to be able to get work in mainstream cinema at this stage in my life. Even when I was working for so long, I felt I was not seen. Now I feel recognised, after Hit I have The Battle of Bhima Koregaon. This should have happened a bit early, but two years were completely wasted because of the pandemic.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Milind Gunaji (@milindgunaji) Milind is known to do more negative roles that positives. He think he was stuck in the mould of either the villain, Thakur or police inspector roles, but, for him, now is the time to break out of it. He says, “Mainly my films in the 90's like Fareb, Virasat and all, mainly my slot used to be main negative, I felt typecast. But I had done some roles as a hero also. However, I realised much earlier that singing and dancing were not my cup of tea. My height is 6.2 feet, and my personality is such that I don't think singing and dancing looks good on me. So I decided that I would rather do something that suits me and where there is more potential to showcase my acting, which was not necessarily only negative roles, I wanted to play more characters. In many films I have played Thakur, and most Thakur roles are negative in films. Then I would get roles of police officer or terrorist. But then in those kinds of roles also, I have managed some highlights. I have been going on. Don, Thakur aur police mein main thoda atak gaya tha, thik hai.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Milind Gunaji (@milindgunaji) “I can do well in comedy also, Nanji Bhai (from Phir Hera Pheri) is quite popular and it feels good to know that people remember me for doing that role. A few days back, when I was at Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 premiere, some young people called me Nanji Bhai, it was such a delight,” Milind said on the desire to do more comedy films, and intense characters. He said, “Now I would like to do more intense roles, where I can act with my eyes, that's what I want to do. I can either do positive or negative roles, with my expressions people can't make out if I am a positive or a negative role, so I want to do more layered roles. Now is the time that such roles are also being written, so I am quite excited.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Milind Gunaji (@milindgunaji) Milind has been an ace trekker, he is the author of one of the classic Marathi travel book Bhatkanti and used to have a popular television show with the same name. He is also the ambassador of Maharashtra's hill station Mahabaleshwar and everyone travelling from Mumbai to Pune has see at least one hoarding of Gunaji dressed in cargo jacket and pants. That's what he wants to do for OTT - his aim is to be Bear Grylls of Maharashtra. He said, “I love the kind of content that is coming on OTT platforms these days. I was not really on a break, I was working. I have been doing Marathi and Telugu films. I also did Panipat in 2019. But it also always seems like I had taken a break, so even I call Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 as my comeback." “But during this period I was doing a lot of photography and I trek quite regularly. Maybe one day, since there is so much OTT content being made, I would like to do a travel show, something like adventure and trekking as I have been a travel writer for long," he added. “I have been a model in my early years, I still do bits of modelling, so I've always been fit. As actors, it is so important to stay young for longer and I think even in my 60s I can pull of 45+ roles, and that's the best part about being an actor. There's so much work today, so much is being written and created, and there are so many platforms, that now I feel for character actors and actors who have been stuck up doing only a certain types of roles, this is the time to rise and shine,” Gunaji concludes.
