Gulshan Grover’s message for
“It’s a very specialised role. A villain needs to be a fantastic actor to create that fear, magic, and aura, film after film, with less screen time and with predictable deeds.
“It changes almost every few months though. The reason being, writers and filmmakers try to project and present on screen what’s happening in real life. They pick up (trends) from newspapers, TV channels and the Internet.
“Over the years the way the villain has been portrayed has gone through an enormous change. The (typical) image of the threatening villain has disappeared from the screen “I am extremely happy to be at the Khaleej Times office! It’s never happened that I have come to Dubai and not met my dear friend Suhail Galadari. I’d like to say how wonderful Khaleej Times is to all the entertainers from different parts of the world. Khaleej Times not only welcomes them when they are in town, but also supports their endeavours, City Times specially does a lot. Suhail Galadari always goes out of his way to support the enterprise of entertainers which is something I really appreciate.” because it doesn’t fit into the film or the society. Today, the difference between the good and the bad is so submerged that it’s difficult to differentiate. A villain does not walk into a restaurant in a threatening way like they used to. The villain could be sitting at the next table looking like an average family man,” said Grover.
Working in Hollywood
He has paved the path for many actors in Bollywood with his stints in Hollywood with movies such as Eastside (1999), Panic (2000), Desperate Endeavors (2011), Prisoners of the Sun (2013) and more.
“I’m the first Indian commercial cinema actor to not only work in Hollywood, but to start the transition from Bollywood to Hollywood. Before me, there were wonderful actors who left India or were NRIS and got an opportunity to work in Hollywood films. It has never happened before that a successful Indian star, who’s a household name, goes back and forth between Bollywood and Hollywood. I’m responsible for creating that path almost 30 years back. I’m very happy that path is being followed and cemented by colleagues like Priyanka Chopra, Irrfan Khan, Anupam Kher, Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, and others.”
On web series
Web series are all the rage now. Would we be seeing him in any upcoming ones? “Since my exposure to Hollywood, I’ve seen and understood how significant and wonderful the web is and all that it can do.
“I did Viacom 18’s first film to launch on the web portal called Wood and the first feature film called Badman.
It did extremely well, but nobody knows about it now. And therein lies my take on the matter. Web is a very different world and I respect it, and at the right time I would do it. But presently I’m not interested.”
Upcoming projects
The man is a busy bee. Along with promoting his son’s projects, he has many films in the pipeline.
“I’m currently working on three films. I’m filming for Sooryavanshi which is produced by Karan Johar, Rohit Shetty, Reliance Entertainment and Akshay Kumar.
“The movie stars Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Ajay Devgn and Ranveer Singh.
“Then there is Sadak 2, directed by one of my favourite directors and mentor, Mahesh Bhatt. It has Alia Bhatt, Sanjay Dutt, Pooja Bhatt and Kunaal Roy Kapur. I’m an antagonist in the movie. After that, there is a movie called Mumbai Saga which is directed by Sanjay Gupta who has made films like Aatish, Kaante and Shootout at Lokhandwala. This film features John Abraham, Emraan Hashmi, Suniel Shetty and Jackie Shroff.”