Krishna Kumar Menon (born 2 October 1966), better known by the

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Kay Kay Menon, is an Indian actor who works predominantly in

Hindi cinema Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

, and also in

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

and

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

cinema.

Early life

Menon was born in a

Nair The Nair , also known as Nayar, are a group of Indian Hindu castes, described by anthropologist Kathleen Gough as "not a unitary group but a named category of castes". The Nair include several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom histo ...

family in

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

and raised in

Ambarnath Ambernath (Marathi pronunciation: �mbəɾnaːt̪ʰ is an eastern suburban city in Mumbai and is a part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Notable people * Merwyn Fernandes, former Indian hockey player * Farukh Choudhary, Indian footballer * ...

and

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

. He studied at the St. Joseph High School in

Khadki Khadki is a cantonment in the city of Pune, India. It has now flourished as a quasi-metropolis & centered in the northern region of the city. Description Khadki could be considered an Indian Army base, along with an ordnance factory consist ...

. He passed his 10th grade in 1981. He did his Bachelors (Physics) from

Mumbai University The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed ...

and his MBA from

Department of Management Sciences (PUMBA) Established in 1971, The Department of Management Sciences (DMS), Savitribai Phule Pune University (also known as PUMBA or Pune University MBA), is one of the premier business schools in India. It is an autonomous department of the University ...

at the

University of Pune Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), formerly the University of Poona, is a collegiate public state university located in the city of Pune, India. It was established in 1949, and is spread over a campus in the neighbourhood of Ganeshk ...

, graduating in 1988 with a major in Marketing. Menon's initial focus was working in the advertising industry including

Kinetic Honda Kinetic Honda was a joint venture between Kinetic Engineering Limited, India and Honda Motor Company, Japan. Kinetic was the first company to have a joint venture with HMSI. The partnership operated from 1984 to 1998, manufacturing two-stroke ...

and Marlboro cigarette advertisements in India.

Career

He started his career in theatre productions where he met

Nivedita Bhattacharya Nivedita Bhattacharya (born 21 July 1970) is an Indian actress. She was born in Lucknow. She is an actress who has acted on television and in films. Filmography * ''Kya Kehna'' (2000) - Preity Zinta's sister-in-law * '' Darr @ the Mall'' (2 ...

, whom he married. His first theatre break was opposite

Naseeruddin Shah Naseeruddin Shah (born 20 July 1950) is an Indian actor. He is notable in Indian parallel cinema. He has also starred in international productions. He has won numerous awards in his career, including three National Film Awards, three Filmfare A ...

Feroz Abbas Khan Feroz Abbas Khan is an Indian theatre and film director, playwright and screenwriter, who is most known for directing plays like Mughal-e-Azam, ''Saalgirah'', ''Tumhari Amrita'' (1992), ''Salesman Ramlal'' and ''Gandhi Viruddh Gandhi''. Car ...

's ''Mahatma vs Gandhi''. In the early years of his career, Menon worked on television, with roles in the TV movies ''Zebra 2'' and ''

Last Train To Mahakali ''Last Train to Mahakali'' is a 1999 Indian Hindi-language thriller film written and directed by Anurag Kashyap , produced by Manish Tiwari and Saket Bahl. It was made for the Star Plus television series '' Star Bestsellers'' and was first tel ...

''. He was praised for his role as a young Prime Minister in the

Zee TV Zee TV (stylised as ZEE TV) is a Hindi general entertainment pay television channel in India. It was launched on 2 October 1992, as the first privately owned TV channel in the country. It is owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Zee TV also ...

series ''Pradhan Mantri'' (2001), directed by

Ketan Mehta Ketan Mehta (born 21 July 1952) is an Indian film director who has also directed documentaries and television serials since 1975. Early life and education Born on 21 July 1952 in Navsari in Gujarat, Mehta did his schooling from Sardar Patel V ...

. In ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'',

Sevanti Ninan Sevanti Ninan is an Indian journalist, columnist, researcher and media critic. She is the founding editor of ''The Hoot'', which was the first media watchdog in India. Ninan was the recipient of the Chameli Devi Jain Award for Outstanding Women ...

wrote, "an actor to watch: Kay Kay Menon ... this unusually tall actor who plays the pradhan mantri is a major saving grace" while in ''

The Tribune ''The Tribune'' or ''Tribune'' is the name of various newspapers: United States Daily California *''Oakland Tribune'' * ''The Tribune'' (San Luis Obispo) *'' San Gabriel Valley Tribune'' Indiana *''Kokomo Tribune'' *'' Peru Tribune'' * ''The Trib ...

'', Amita Malik commented, "excellent acting by Menon, who skilfully conveys the physical as well as mental image of the honest politician". Menon made his big screen debut with a small role in '' Naseem'' (1995), followed in 1999 by the lead role in '' Bhopal Express'', 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 ''Paanch'' (English: ''Five'') is a 2003 Indian crime thriller film written and directed by Anurag Kashyap in his directing debut, starring Kay Kay Menon, Aditya Srivastava, Vijay Maurya, Joy Fernandes and Tejaswini Kolhapure. The film is "loo ...

'', which struggled with censorship and has remained unreleased. Two other movies, ''

Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi ''Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi'' (A Thousand Wishes Like This) is an Indian political drama film made by director Sudhir Mishra in 2003 but released in 2005. Set against the backdrop of the Indian Emergency, the movie tells the story of three young ...

'' and '' Black Friday'', had to wait many years for a release date. Meanwhile, his commercial films '' Deewar'' (starring

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; born as Amitabh Shrivastav; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, occasional playback singer and former politician known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the most succe ...

) and ''

Silsiilay ''Silsiilay'' ( en, Chains) is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language romance film written and directed by Khalid Mohammed. The film stars Tabu, Bhumika Chawla, Riya Sen, Celina Jaitly, Anita Hassanandani, Divya Dutta, Rahul Bose, Jimmy Sheirgill, Ashm ...

'' (with

Shahrukh Khan Shah Rukh Khan (; born 2 November 1965), also known by the initialism SRK, is an Indian actor, film producer, and television personality who works in Hindi films. Referred to in the media as the " Baadshah of Bollywood", "King of Bollywood" ...

) 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 Penmetsa Ram Gopal Varma (born 7 April 1962), often referred to by his initials RGV, is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer, known for his works in Telugu cinema in addition to Bollywood, Hindi, Kannada cinema, Kannada language ...

's '' Sarkar'', Menon had his break. ''Sarkar'' earned him a nomination for the Best Performance in a Negative Role at the

Filmfare Awards The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...

. In ''

'', Saibal Chatterjee called him "one of Bollywood's finest actors". In 2007, he acted in '' Life in a... Metro'', as an adulterous husband. In 2008, he appeared in ''

Shaurya ''Shaurya'' (English language, English: ''Gallantry'') is a 2008 courtroom drama film directed by Samar Khan, starring Kay Kay Menon, Rahul Bose, Javed Jaffrey, Deepak Dobriyal and Minissha Lamba. The film is inspired by the Hindi play ''Court M ...

'' based on

A Few Good Men ''A Few Good Men'' is a 1992 American legal drama film based on Aaron Sorkin's 1989 play. It was written by Sorkin, directed by Rob Reiner, and produced by Reiner, David Brown and Andrew Scheinman. It stars an ensemble cast including Tom C ...

. His portrayal of a ruthless army brigadier is still talked of among cinema lovers. In 2009, he starred in ''

The Stoneman Murders ''The Stoneman Murders'' is a 2009 Indian neo-noir crime thriller film based on the real life Stoneman serial killings that made headlines in the early 1980s in Bombay. The helpless victims of the mystery killer, who was never caught, were foot ...

'' where he played a police officer on the hunt for the Stoneman serial killer. He played the role of Dukki Bana in ''Gulaal. His role as Khurram Mir in 2014's

Haider Haider is a predominantly Arabic name, with alternative spellings such as Haidar, Haydar and Heydar. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Haider Al-Abadi, Iraqi politician *Haider Ackermann (born 1971), French fashion designer *Haid ...

bagged him a Filmfare and IIFA award for Best Supporting Actor. He played a very crucial role in ''

The Ghazi Attack ''Ghazi'' is a 2017 Indian war film written and directed by Sankalp Reddy, which was simultaneously shot in Telugu and Hindi languages, with the latter titled ''The Ghazi Attack''. The film stars Rana Daggubati, Taapsee Pannu, Kay Kay Menon, At ...

'' 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 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 Special operations (S.O.) are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment". Special operations may include ...

'' - a web series for Hotstar. In 2021, he again played the young version of Himmat Singh (

R&AW The Research and Analysis Wing (abbreviated R&AW; hi, ) is the foreign intelligence agency of India. The agency's primary function is gathering foreign intelligence, counter-terrorism, counter-proliferation, advising Indian policymakers, a ...

leading officer) in Special Ops 1.5, the prequel part of

. OTT viewers admired his performance in this series. Following the resounding success of espionage thriller Special Ops, Hotstar Specials is set to ring in a new form of storytelling with the launch of ‘Special Ops Universe’, created and conceptualized by film-maker

Neeraj Pandey Neeraj Pandey (born 17 December 1973) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter who works in Hindi cinema. Pandey was made his directoral debut in ''A Wednesday!'', which was largely praised by critics and which later became a recip ...

and Friday Storytellers.

Filmography

:''All films in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

unless otherwise stated.''

Films

Television

Web series

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Menon, Kay Kay 1966 births Living people Malayali people Indian male film actors 20th-century Indian male actors 21st-century Indian male actors Male actors from Mumbai Male actors from Pune Male actors in Gujarati-language films Filmfare Awards winners International Indian Film Academy Awards winners