Loved Kay Kay Menon in ‘Bambai Meri Jaan’? Let’s trace the actor's journey in Bollywood

In the early years of his showbiz career, the actor worked on television, with roles in Zebra 2 and Last Train To Mahakali.

Krishna Kumar Menon, well known by his stage name Kay Kay Menon, has worked in Hindi cinema, apart from featuring in a few Gujarati, Tamil, Marathi and Telugu projects. He was born in a Malayalam speaking family in Kozhikode, Kerala but was raised in Pune. After completing his MBA from Department of Management Sciences (PUMBA) at the University of Pune, he started working in the advertising industry, and during one of the theatre productions, he met his now wife Nivedita Bhattacharya.

Theatre and TV career

Menon got his first theatre break opposite Naseeruddin Shah in Feroz Abbas Khan's Mahatma vs Gandhi. He also worked in television, with roles in Zebra 2 and Last Train To Mahakali. He also played a young Prime Minister in the Zee TV series Pradhan Mantri (2001), which was directed by Ketan Mehta.

Film debut

The much-loved actor finally made his silver screen debut with a small role in Naseem (1995), and followed it up with a lead role in 1999 film Bhopal Express, but the film went unnoticed. However, in the early 2000s, he featured as a wicked rock musician in Anurag Kashyap's debut movie, Paanch, which still has remained unreleased. His two other films, including Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi and Black Friday, had to wait several years for a release date.

In the meantime, he starred in several commercial films Deewar (starring Amitabh Bachchan) and Silsiilay (with Shahrukh Khan. It was not until 2005, with the eventual release of Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, that Menon was critically praised. And finally with Ram Gopal Varma's Sarkar, Menon got his much awaited big break. He also was nominated for the Best Performance in a Negative Role at the Filmfare Awards for the film.

In 2007, he starred in Life in a... Metro, Enemmy (2013), and Rahasya (2015). In 2008, he made a mark in Shaurya, based on A Few Good Men, where his portrayal of a ruthless army brigadier was much loved. In 2009, he featured in The Stoneman Murders as a police officer on the hunt for the Stoneman serial killer. Moving further, his act as Dukki Bana in Gulaal was much loved.

Post that, there was no looking back for the actor, and his role of Khurram Mir in 2014's Haider got him a Filmfare and IIFA award for Best Supporting Actor. He also starred in The Ghazi Attack as a Naval Captain. The film was based on how the Indian Naval submarine, S21 ended up intercepting the Pakistani submarine, PNS Ghazi, during routine surveillance got details of its mission of destroying INS Vikrant in 1971.

In recent years, his role as Himmat Singh in 2020's Special Ops - a web series for Hotstar, has become synonymous with him. In 2021, he reprised his role of Himmat Singh (R&AW leading officer) in Special Ops 1.5, which was the show’s prequel.

His latest project, 'Bambai Meri Jaan’, premiered on September 14. The series, which is a crime thriller based on S Hussain Zaidi's book 'Dongri to Dubai: Six Decades of the Mumbai Mafia’, features Menon in the role of a cop whose son, played by Avinash Tiwary, becomes a gangster. The show depicts the rise of the underworld in Bombay.