For want of a face?

Irfaan Khan

Do you recall names like Rakesh Bapat, Himanshu Mallik and other well-chiselled faces and pumped beefcakes who had little or no talent, but embarked upon acting careers with little more than their looks to get by?

Time was spent in body-toning sessions and groove classes on how best to run around trees, but sadly these actors were left romancing or sharing air with the likes of Mallika Sherawat, and no guesses as to why no one remembers them today. The star versus actor argument is visited also when we see Shahid Kapoor embodying a woo-worthy smile and well toned biceps flaunting himself before the steady cam, as he ruffles his hair for the nth time.

Simultaneously, in between gyrating in translucent Manish Malhotra gear, even the Badshah Khan realises that he needs to do a Swades now and then.

For true actors who choose to don the non-glamorous robe, like the less famous Khan "" Irfaan "" such choices are, perhaps, nonexistent.

Thankfully, even when spotted in an embrace with the gorgeous Ilene Hamman, Irfaan Khan's intensity as a leading man was top of every discerning cineaste's mind once Mahesh Bhatt's Rog hit theatres.

But Jaipur-born Irfaan Khan's rise to establishing himself as a leading man hasn't been easy. He started his career some 15 years ago in Govind Nihalani's Drishti before the small screen made him a well-recognised face courtesy his matter-of-fact, down to earth approach in the most theatrical of all enterprises, Banegi Apni Baat and Sparsh.

And while the silver screen did do its bit in getting him some much-deserved acclaim, he shook up the industry in Tigmanshu Dhulia's small town socio-political thriller Haasil.

Awards came his way, but none as coveted as the BAFTA which Irfaan won performing the title role in Warrior.

And while NSD-bred Irfaan is all ready to move on after having proved himself as leading man, his forthcoming films will see him tackle comedy with his deadpan approach in 7 1/2 Phere (earlier titled Sapna Hai).

Irfaan will also be playing the lead in Aditya Bhattacharya's Dubai Returned, apart from his trademark dark films like Dhulia's The Story of a Porn Filmmaker, Chocolate, Mr. 100% - The Real Player, among other films.

The man successfully crossed over with The Warrior despite losing out to Naseeruddin Shah as Captain Nemo in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Ben Kingsley in Thunderbirds.

While Irfaan has achieved a considerable extent of success courtesy Haasil, his titular portrayal of Maqbool, and has awards to his credit, for poor Kay Kay Menon the struggle has been slow to bear fruit.

"The camera is like your girlfriend. It watches you closely. Never ever try to impress it. Be what you are within the parameters of your role."

These are not Kay Kay Menon's but Michael Caine's words, something the talented actor believes in, and if his range is anything to go by, from Bhopal Express to Anurag Kashyap's two unreleased films "" Paanch and Black Friday "" this is one talent powerhouse that can hold his own against any actor of any period in Indian cinema.

Having exhibited his range in Paanch and re-invented the cop routine yet again in Black Friday, he is sadly best known for having held his own as a villain in Gaurang Doshi's Deewar opposite Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt and Akshaye Khanna.

While Kay Kay had little screen time (courtesy distributor demands, one would guess), it helped pave the way for some mainstream work, but the maverick agrees that it's not the length but the role that matters.

An MBA, he has hung around for eight long years , to have only five of his films see the light of day. But things will hopefully turn around once Ram Gopal Varma's Sarkar, where he plays the elder son of senior Bachchan, releases.

Menon, a method actor, went through gruelling training sessions to look the psychotic Morrison worshipping, nihilist Luke in Kashyap's Paanch and put his talent to the sword in Sudhir Mishra's soon to be released political drama set in the seventies, Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi .

While Sarkar is set to springboard him into the major league, he is also doing an adaptation of Death and the Maiden (Dhansh, contextualised on the Mizo Nationalist Front agitation, directed by Kanika, and co-starring Sonali Kulkarni), Khalid Mohammed's film Silsilay and Main Meri Patni aur Woh.

Despite having earned accolades for playing the lead in Ketan Mehta-directed, M J Akbar-scripted teleserial Pradhanmantri, Kay Kay has moved away from the small screen and believes that one can only be bigger than ordinary stars if you are unconventional looking. "Look at Shah Rukh Khan and Mr Bachchan," he concludes, "I rest my case."

Drama has been the stepping stone for this current breed who don't want to see themselves romancing chicks around pillars or atop trains while chasing the bad guy, or go glycerine-eyed trying to appease ma-in-laws.

Parveen Dabbas tells us that his first break was not in Monsoon Wedding but in the play Samrat Ashok, where he played the lead when a class ninth student.

The civil services aspirant from Delhi's Hansraj College, however, gave it all up to first sign up for the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and then came back to Delhi to stage various plays under his group, The Urban Theatre Group. "But Mumbai is the final frontier, I said to myself, and set foot in the city in 1997," he says.

From then on, apart from scrounging around to do small screen and ad film work (courtesy Rael Padamsee who cast him in A Mouthful of Sky and Mukul Anand who gave him a break in a Brooke Bond ad) Parveen was busy modelling and also played the baddie opposite Bobby Deol in the Deol's home production Dillagi.

But the film bombed, and then after the unreleased Tapish he bagged Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding. The understated 'engineer' looks have since prompted a lot of 'item film' makers to cast him opposite glam dolls.

But Dabbas says he doesn't believing in the lip-lock school of dramatics. Audiences will soon see him marshalling his wits against Bomman Irani in Dibakar Bannerjee's Khosla Ka Ghosla, Shemaroo's Kuch Meetha Ho Jaye and Assamese filmmaker Jhanu Baruah's Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara starring Urmila Matondkar and Anupam Kher.

Sudhir Mishra, the director of the multi-award winning Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, set to hit screens on April 15, did a screen test for his lead cast for the film across five cities before he zeroed in on Shiny Ahuja.

"He had the look of a refugee Punjabi educating himself in Delhi and climbing the social rungs," he says. "But only when one sees the film will one realise what Shiny is capable of."

Shiny Ahuja has had appearances in Sanjay F Gupta's all style-no substance Karam playing the baddie, and in the controversial Sins which he sees on his resume almost with an apology.

However, strange as it may sound "" and something his director may approve of "" he isn't willing to let himself be bracketed in the same category as the above three.

Which brings us to the point "" is one brave enough to stay out of convention? Clearly, it isn't convenient for everybody here to make a career, but as Kay Kay puts it "" "I've been fortunate as I've been brave."

The actor has no faces
Five faces that have broken the barrier of stereotypical looks and carved a name in the history of leading men on the basis of talent

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Amitabh Bachchan Tall, gawky and with a voice discarded by radio, the second fiddle to Rajesh Khanna, underlined the fact that anger and youth need never have a pretty face.

Shatrughan Sinha A stitched lip and a resume that includes being beaten up by every hero under the sun didn't deter the former anti-hero who ended up not only shouting "Khamosh" to Loin but also serenading everyone from Hema Malini to Sridevi (at last count).

Naseeruddin Shah Probably the finest example of yet another gawky looking NSD actor who chose to stay parallel, before "Oye Oye"ing his way to box office success.

Amol Palekar Couldn't dance and would have been beaten hollow by any villain (including Asrani in Choti Si Baat), but generated tremendous class and mass appeal by catering to simple urban middle class sensibilities.

Ajay Devgun His lack of looks brought hope to many. While Devgun's acting abilities have been debatable, his debut film opened with him straddling two bikes, showing that stunts can get you where brooding intensity won't.

Kay Kay speak

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Is the Michael Caine quote, "Act as if the camera is your girlfriend", your guiding light in acting?

Yes. I have always believed that one should never try to pretend to be someone else before either of them "" faults or imperfections creep up during pretense.

Tell us something about your latest release.

Hazaaron Khwaishen Aisi is a political drama set in the late 60s, about three Delhi college students who move in different political directions. Ideally, Sudhir Mishra wanted unknown faces for the film, but while Shiny and Chitrangda were newcomers, he chose me for the third role as the idealistic rebel.

You play Mr Bachchan's son in Ram Gopal Varma's Sarkar ...

That's right. I am the dark horse in the family, that wields extraconstitutional power in the city.

And thereafter?

I am doing one of the three short films by Khalid

Mohammad titled Silsilay and Main Meri Patni Aur Woh. That apart, there is Dhansh about the Mizo nationalist movement with Sonali Kulkarni.

Will we be seeing you on the small screen any more?

Currently, my film commitments are keeping me from doing anything else.

You have had five releases in eight years with the best of your work ( Paanch and Black Friday ) still unnoticed in the public domain. How did you survive this phase?

I've just waited, I guess. And yes, I have always believed that fortune favours the brave.