I play people, I don't play roles: Kay Kay Menon

Mumbai: Actor Kay Kay Menon on Monday said his character in the upcoming series "Bambai Meri Jaan" is unlike any role he has played as it revolves around a cop torn between professional duties and personal commitments.

The show is created by Shujaat Saudagar and Rensil D'Silva. Saudagar has also directed the series from a story by S Hussain Zaidi. Set in the post-independence era, the story chronicles the life and rise of a young man, Dara Kadri (Avinash Tiwary), torn between his father’s law enforcement legacy (Menon) and his own journey into the heart of organised crime.

"My character Ismail Kadri is multi-layered and complex. He is an honest cop and a doting father who isn’t perfect. On one hand, he is deeply committed to cleaning the city of Bambai of all crime, on the other, to save his family, he is forced to become a pawn to the city’s crime syndicate," the actor said.

Menon said his approach to acting is simple: "I normally play people. I don't play roles."

"When I'm told to play the role of a cop, it was played in a certain way in earlier times. No two persons are the same. There can be a limited number of roles, like there can be 25,000 roles of cops, professors or lawyers, but each person is different. I tend to play the person more than the role. So, the role of Rakesh Maria (from 'Black Friday') is different from Ismail Kadri (in 'Bambai Meri Jaan')," the actor said at the trailer launch of the series.

"Bulbbul" star Tiwary said initially he was not sure that he will be able to pull off the character of a rising gangster.

"What excited me was the fact that he came from hunger and took to those steps to come to the position of power, so the whole journey of this character was exciting. He is a gangster. (But) the internal story, the story of the family, relationships those were the things that really made me feel that this is going to be an immersive experience. I'm glad I'm part of it and got to play this role," he added.

"Bambai Meri Jaan" is backed by Excel Media and Entertainment’s Ritesh Sidhwani, Kassim Jagmagia and Farhan Akhtar.

Sidhwani said the story will resonate with people.

"The story and the beautiful characters so it became easy when you have this perfect cast, which completed them. It is a fictional story, but you get caught in the world that you start believing in it," he said.

Actor Kritika Kamra said it was for the first time that she got a chance to play a bada** character and she had fun "because I'm a good girl always".

Saudagar said the show is not just a crime thriller, it also charts the "rise of the city and organised crime within the city".

"We have heard these stories of gangsters, and we have created a fictional piece. The characters and look of the characters are concerned, like getting the visual world right and cast right. We did extensive workshops with actors," he said.

Nivedita Bhattacharya and Amyra Dastur are also part of the series.

The 10-episode series will stream on Prime Video from September 14.