Kay Kay Menon

Indian actor (b. 1966)

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

Kay Kay Menon

Menon at the premiere of Saat Uchakkey (2016)

Born|

Krishna Kumar Menon

(1966-10-02) 2 October 1966 (age 58)

Kozhikode, Kerala, India

Education| University of Pune
Occupation| Actor
Years active| 1995–present
Spouse| Nivedita Bhattacharya

Krishna Kumar Menon (born 2 October 1966[1]), known professionally as Kay Kay Menon, is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Hindi cinema, and occasionally in Gujarati, Tamil, Marathi and Telugu films. He is best known for his roles in films such as Black Friday (2004), Deewar (2004), Sarkar (2005), Shaurya (2008), Gulaal (2009), Haider (2014), Baby (2015). He has starred in web series such as Special Ops, Farzi, The Railway Men and Citadel: Honey Bunny.

## Early life

[edit]

Menon was born into a Malayali nair family in Kozhikode, Kerala and raised in Ambarnath and Pune, Maharashtra, India.[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) from Mumbai University[1] and his MBA from 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

[edit]

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 also appeared in Telefilms of Zee TV Rishtey (Ward no. 6) and Saturday Suspense episodes. 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 with Ram Gopal Varma's Sarkar, Menon had his break.[6] Sarkar earned him a nomination for the Best Performance in a Negative Role at the Filmfare Awards.[citation needed] In The Tribune, Saibal Chatterjee called him "one of Bollywood's finest actors".[6]

In 2007, he acted in Life in a... Metro, Enemmy (2013), and Rahasya (2015), as an adulterous husband. In 2008, he appeared in Shaurya[8][9] based on A Few Good Men . His portrayal of a ruthless army brigadier is still talked of among cinema lovers.[10][11] In 2009, he starred in The Stoneman Murders where he played a police officer on the hunt for the Stoneman serial killer.[12] 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 The 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 impressed and gained more popularity with a role as Himmat Singh in 2020's Special Ops \- a web series for Hotstar. In 2021, he again played the young version of Himmat Singh (R&AW leading officer) in Special Ops 1.5, the prequel part of Special Ops.

## Filmography

[edit]

### Films

[edit]

Year | Title | Role | Notes

|
|
|

1995 | Naseem | Islamic fundamentalist |
1999 | Bhopal Express | Verma |
2002 | Chhal | Karan Menon |
2003 | Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi | Siddharth Tyabji |
2004 | Black Friday | DCP Rakesh Maria |
Deewaar | Sohail Miyaan |
Silsiilay | Anwar Ahmed Bhoy |
2005 | Sarkar | Vishnu Nagare |
Dansh | Mathew |
Main, Meri Patni Aur Woh | Akash |
Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena | Kaif |
2006 | Corporate | Ritesh Sahani |
Shoonya | Mahendra Naik |
2007 | Strangers | Sanjeev Rai |
Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. | Partho Sen |
Life in a... Metro | Ranjit Kapoor |
Go | Nagesh Rao |
2008 | Sarkar Raj | Vishnu Nagare |
Maan Gaye Mughal-e-Azam | Haldi Hasan |
Mumbai Meri Jaan | Suresh |
Via Darjeeling | Ankur Sharma |
Shaurya | Brigadier Rudra Pratap Singh |
Sirf | Gaurav |
Drona | Riz Razaida |
2009 | The Stoneman Murders | Sanjay Shelar |
Gulaal | Dukey Bana |
Aage se right | Janubhai/Baima Rashidul Kairi |
Sankat City | Guru |
2010 | Tera Kya Hoga Johnny | Inspector Shashikant Chiple |
Lafangey Parindey | Anna | Cameo
Benny And Babloo | Benny |
2011 | Bheja Fry 2 | Ajit Talwar |
Bhindi Bazaar | Shroff |
2012 | Chaalis Chouraasi | Albert Pinto |
Life Ki Toh Lag Gayi | Salman |
Shahid | War saab |
2013 | Enemmy |  CID Officer Naeem Shaikh |
ABCD: Any Body Can Dance | Jehangir Khan |
Udhayam NH4 | ACP Manoj Menon IPS | Tamil film
Ankur Arora Murder Case | Dr. Viren Asthana |
2014 | Raja Natwarlal | Vardha Yadav |
Haider | Khurram Meer |
2015 | Baby | Bilal Khan |
Rahasya |  CBI Officer Sunil Paraskar |
Bombay Velvet | Investigative Officer Vishwas Kulkarni |
Singh Is Bliing | Mark |
2016 | A Flying Jatt | Mr. Rakesh Malhotra |
Saat Uchakkey | Tejpal |
2017 | The Ghazi Attack | Captain Ranvijay Singh | Bilingual film
2018 | Dhaad | Ghelo | Gujarati film[13]
Vodka Diaries | ACP Ashwini Dixit |
Baa Baaa Black Sheep | ACP Shivraj Naik |
Phamous | Kadak Singh  |
Ek Sangaychay |  | Marathi film
2019  | Penalty | Vikram Singh  |
2021  | Shaadisthan | Tiger Ji/Rajaji  |
2023  | Love All | Siddharth Sharma  |
2025  | Metro... In Dino | Naeem Hussain  | Completed

### Television

[edit]

Year | Show  | Episodes | Role

|
|
|

1995-1996  | Darr |  | Inspector Avinash
1999  | Star Bestsellers \- Zebra 2 |  | Captain Rajeev
1999  | Star Bestsellers \- Last Train to Mahakali |  | Sir
1997-99  | Saturday Suspense  | 12(Woh Kaun Thi?),

16(The Assassin),

18(On the Run),

42(Breaking News),

68(Friends),

104(Beyond Truth)

| Inspector Vaali

James Mathew

Aakash(Serial Killer)

Amar Rathore

Krishna Pandit

COP Ankush

2000  | Rishtey \-  Ward No. 6 | 111  | Doctor Rajat
2001  | Pradhan Mantri |  | PM Anirudh Prakash
2005  | Time Bomb 9/11 |  | Prime Minister of India
2014  | Yudh |  | Municipal Commissioner

### Streaming series

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role  | Platform  | Notes

|
|
|
|

2018  | The Great Indian Dysfunctional Family | Vikram Ranaut  | ALTBalaji |
2020  | Special OPS | Himmat Singh  | Disney Plus Hotstar |
2021  | Ray | Inderashish[14] | Netflix |
Special Ops 1.5: The Himmat Story | Himmat Singh  | Disney Plus Hotstar |
2023  | Farzi | Mansoor Dalal  | Amazon Prime Video |
Bambai Meri Jaan | Ismail Kadri  |
The Railway Men | Iftekaar Siddiqui  | Netflix |
2024  | Shekhar Home | Shekhar Home  | Disney Plus Hotstar | [15]
Murshid | Murshid Pathan  | ZEE5 | [16]
Citadel: Honey Bunny | Guru  | Amazon Prime Video |

### Short film(s)

[edit]

Year  | Title

|

2019  | Sparsh
2019  | The Last Chapter

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e Gupta, Priya (29 September 2014). "Kay Kay Menon: I take my work seriously, not myself". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
2. ^ Ravi, Shruti (19 January 2012). "Pune is like Mumbai now, says Kay Kay Menon". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 18 May 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
3. ^ a b Gupta, Priya (30 September 2014). "Kay Kay Menon: I take my work seriously, not myself". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
4. ^ Ninan, Sevanti (22 April 2001). "Melodrama with a K". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 23 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021. "An actor to watch: Kay Kay Menon in "Pradhan Mantri". While the cynicism in this serial continues to be overstated through the second episode, this unusually tall actor who plays the pradhan mantri is a major saving grace. His lines could be better, but he mouths them with conviction. Looks like he will have to carry this serial on his shoulders."
5. ^ Malik, Amita (27 April 2001). "Mantris in tough competition". The Tribune. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
6. ^ a b c Chatterjee, Saibal (28 August 2005). "A man among boys". The Tribune. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. 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. ^ "Review: Shaurya". www.rediff.com. Archived from the original on 14 October 2018. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
9. ^ "Masand's Verdict: Shaurya « Rajeev Masand – movies that matter : from bollywood, hollywood and everywhere else". Archived from the original on 23 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
10. ^ "'Drona reminded me of my childhood'". www.rediff.com. Archived from the original on 23 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
11. ^ "'Drona' makers spend a fortune on villain". DNA India. 13 September 2008. Archived from the original on 23 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
12. ^ Vijayakar, Rajiv (20 February 2009). "The Stoneman Murders (Hindi)". Screen India. Archived from the original on 25 February 2009. Retrieved 28 February 2009.
13. ^ Oza, Nandini (5 January 2018). "After 17 years, Gujarati film Dhaad starring Nandita Das set for release". The Week. Archived from the original on 11 August 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
14. ^ "'Ray' trailer: Netflix anthology is a tribute to the master filmmaker". The Hindu. 9 June 2021. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 13 June 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
15. ^ "Kay Kay Menon-starrer detective series 'Shekhar Home' gets premiere date". The Hindu. 1 August 2024.
16. ^ "Kay Kay Menon's series 'Murshid' trailer out; show to be out on August 30". The Hindu. 21 August 2024.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kay Kay Menon.

* Kay Kay Menon at IMDb
* Kay Kay Menon at Rotten Tomatoes
* Kay Kay Menon at Bollywood Hungama
* Kay Kay Menon at Twitter

* v
* t
* e

IIFA Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role

* Naseeruddin Shah (2000)
* Sushant Singh (2001)
* Akshay Kumar (2002)
* Akshaye Khanna (2003)
* Feroz Khan (2004)
* John Abraham (2005)
* Nana Patekar (2006)
* Saif Ali Khan (2007)
* Vivek Oberoi (2008)
* Akshaye Khanna (2009)
* Boman Irani (2010)
* Sonu Sood (2011)
* Prakash Raj (2012)
* Rishi Kapoor (2013)
* Rishi Kapoor (2014)
* Kay Kay Menon (2015)
* Darshan Kumar (2016)
* Jim Sarbh (2017)
* Bobby Deol (2024)
* Raghav Juyal (2025)

* v
* t
* e

Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor

1955–1975|

* David (1955)
* Abhi Bhattacharya (1956)
* Motilal (1957)
* Raj Mehra (1958)
* Johnny Walker (1959)
* Manmohan Krishna (1960)
* Motilal (1961)
* Nana Palsikar (1962)
* Mehmood (1963)
* Raaj Kumar (1964)
* Nana Palsikar (1965)
* Raaj Kumar (1966)
* Ashok Kumar (1967)
* Pran (1968)
* Sanjeev Kumar (1969)
* Pran (1970)
* Feroz Khan (1971)
* Amitabh Bachchan (1972)
* Pran (1973)
* Amitabh Bachchan (1974)
* Vinod Khanna (1975)

1976–2000|

* Shashi Kapoor (1976)
* Prem Chopra (1977)
* Shreeram Lagoo (1978)
* Saeed Jaffrey (1979)
* Amjad Khan (1980)
* Om Puri (1981)
* Amjad Khan (1982)
* Shammi Kapoor (1983)
* Sadashiv Amrapurkar (1984)
* Anil Kapoor (1985)
* Amrish Puri (1986)
* Not awarded (1987)
* Not awarded (1988)
* Anupam Kher (1989)
* Nana Patekar (1990)
* Mithun Chakraborty (1991)
* Danny Denzongpa (1992)
* Danny Denzongpa (1993)
* Sunny Deol (1994)
* Jackie Shroff (1995)
* Jackie Shroff (1996)
* Amrish Puri (1997)
* Amrish Puri (1998)
* Salman Khan (1999)
* Anil Kapoor (2000)

2001–present|

* Amitabh Bachchan (2001)
* Akshaye Khanna (2002)
* Vivek Oberoi (2003)
* Saif Ali Khan (2004)
* Abhishek Bachchan (2005)
* Abhishek Bachchan (2006)
* Abhishek Bachchan (2007)
* Irrfan Khan (2008)
* Arjun Rampal (2009)
* Boman Irani (2010)
* Ronit Roy (2011)
* Farhan Akhtar (2012)
* Annu Kapoor (2013)
* Nawazuddin Siddiqui (2014)
* Kay Kay Menon (2015)
* Anil Kapoor (2016)
* Rishi Kapoor (2017)
* Rajkummar Rao (2018)
* Gajraj Rao and Vicky Kaushal (2019)
* Siddhant Chaturvedi (2020)
* Saif Ali Khan (2021)
* Pankaj Tripathi (2022)
* Anil Kapoor (2023)
* Vicky Kaushal (2024)

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