Mumbai, May 17 : Actor Kay Kay Menon, who is looking forward to the release of his two upcoming films—‘Bheja Fry 2' and ‘Bhendi Bazaar', says marketing blitzkrieg has taken over content and creative considerations in the industry.
“Today cinema has become money driven...marketing has gained mileage and the content of a film has taken a backseat. Audiences are fooled by exorbitant marketing thereby increasing the box office results. Today, a film's budget is equal to marketing cost,” Kay Kay told PTI in an interview.
“I have nothing against marketing...but if one does extensive marketing then why do they need actors. With this creativity of a film has become secondary. Marketing has taken over the film. Awareness of a film is necessary but one must do it in a creative way,” he said.
The 48-year-old actor feels it is not the established stars or an item song that make a hit film. “Cinema is not about wearing ‘bikni' and showing ‘six packs'...All these are secondary,” Kay Kay said.
Menon, an MBA, started his Bollywood career with Saeed Akhtar Mirza's ‘Naseem' but was first noticed in Sudhir Mishra's ‘Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi'. His performance as the anguished DCP Rakesh Maria in the movie ‘Black Friday' was widely appreciated and acclaimed.
About ‘Bhendi Bazaar', the actor said, “The film is about the functioning of crime syndicate in the city. I have a glorified guest appearance, where I play Shroff, who is the badshah (leader) of all.”
The Hindi thriller is directed by Ankush Bhatt and produced by Karan Arora, starring Kay Kay, Piyush Mishra, Prashant Narayanan, Deepti Naval, Shilpa Shukla and Pawan Malhotra.
The film, releasing on June 10 is set in the underbelly of Mumbai, between the infamous by-lanes where crime is prevalent as a way of life.
The new installment of the Vinay Pathak comic caper, ‘Bheja Fry 2', features Minisha Lamba, Amole Gupte, Aditi Govitrikar and Rukhsaar besides Kay Kay.
On ‘Bheja Fry 2', the actor says, “The story is about how Bharat Bhushan (Vinay Pathak) and - (Kay Kay) meet and can't avoid each other. How my suave character gets harassed when he is with this idiot who fries his brains. I play Ajit Talwar, a rich flamboyant businessman who has his businesses and services spread globally.
Directed by Sagar Bellary the film releases on June 17.
