Acting Choosy

For Menon,the main reason to do Chaalis Chaurasi was the presence of Naseeruddin Shah,someone who he has closely worked with in theatre. “Whatever I have learnt about acting,I owe it a lot to Naseerji. You learn so much just by seeing him work. The more time you spend with him,the more you are in awe of him,” he says.

Menon started out in the industry with a lot of promise in the late ‘90s with unconventional films such as Hansal Mehta’s Chhal and Anurag Kashyap’s Paanch. When Paanch did not hit the screens,it was bit of a setback for him. But he wasn’t deterred by it. He remained a regular in the Kashyap camp,who also cast him in his first theatrical release Black Friday,and later Gulal. Known for his penchant for hard-hitting roles,Menon also proved his worth with films such as Sarkar,Deewaar and Hazaron Khwaishein Aisi. “I had found my comfort zone in films. I knew the kind of roles I was comfortable in. But as an actor,I wanted to be challenged more.” It was then that he moved to big commercial films such as Corporate,Life in a Metro and Honeymoon Travels Private Limited.

After doing all kinds of films and tasting both the highs and lows,Menon’s career high came with Kashyap’s Gulal. But ever since he hasn’t been able to repeat the magic at the box-office,nor achieved any critical acclaim for his performance. “Certain films without a clear storyline or screenplay go on to become blockbusters. So the box-office results are not in my hands,” says Menon.