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Villain No. 1?
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Kelly Dorjee is back. He plays a villain with different shades in his latest film
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In COMBAT mode Kelly Dorjee (right) and Nagarjuna in a scene from “Don No.1”
He made less news as an intelligent winner of the Gladrags Model Hunt (1994) and more as Lara Dutta’s beau. He was more noticed for his ‘different’ looks and less for his acting talent. A few Hindi films (Khamosh ̵
1; Khauff Ki Raat, Fareb, Ek Ajnabee and Tango Charlie) did little to boost his career.
So, what brings Kelly Dorjee back into the news? It’s his hit film in Telugu Don No 1 directed by Raghava Lawrence. The film is now dubbed into Hindi and is likely to release in the first week of March. Nagarjuna plays the lead.
Says Dorjee, “Don No. 1 is a major hit in the South. It was released in December last year and has already made Rs. 60 crore. I play Sikandar, an international don. He is a Robin Hood of sorts. Based in Pakistan, he is a terror across the globe. But he is yet to overtake Surya (played by Nagarjuna), Don No. 1 from India. How he confronts him and how the two villains try to outdo each other is what the film is about. The storyline may not be great but its presentation is. ”
Comfort zone
Kelly plays villain by choice. “There are many ways to play a villain but only one way to play a hero,” he quips. “It’s very difficult to convince directors that a villain need not be loud-mouthed and endorse a particular style. For me so far, the best villain in today’s Hindi films is Saif in Omkara. I want to grab that empty villain corner in Bollywood but I repeatedly get the same roles.”
But there is hope for him in director Sanjay Chauhan’s debut film Lahore, releasing shortly. Kelly will be seen on the Hindi film screen after a long gap. He states the reason without mincing words, “The media never treated me fairly. Whenever they wrote about me, it was only when I was on and off in my relationship (with Lara). It always belittled me. I didn’t get any films for over a year. I went door to door begging directors and producers to give me a chance. I learnt the hard way that talent alone doesn’t work. To remain in Bollywood, you need to market yourself aggressively. You should blow your own trumpet. I am doing that now. I am nice to the press despite my bitter experiences.”
And now he has three films in his kitty; two with Mani Shankar and one under the Ram Babu banner!
RANA SIDDIQUI
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Mangalore
Puducherry
Tiruchirapalli
Thiruvananthapuram
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
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