Veteran actor Gulshan Grover is busy doing what he has always relished on the Bollywood screen. He has a packed date diary, with upcoming biggies such as "Sooryavanshi", "Sadak 2" and "Mumbai Saga". Importantly, he is happy to be playing the antagonist once again.
Grover feels being part of such mega films gives him a sense of being relevant as an actor and makes him believe in his brand of acting.
"Right now, I am working in three mega films. One of them is Rohit Shetty's 'Sooryavanshi' which he has produced with Reliance Entertainment, Karan Johar and Akshay Kumar. It is going to be a huge film. Rohit (Shetty) is one of the most wonderful directors I have worked with in my career. I play the role of an antagonist in the film," he revealed in an interview.
Grover is also excited to team up once again with Mahesh Bhatt, in the veteran filmmaker's comeback directorial feature "Sadak 2", starring Sanjay Dutt, Pooja Bhatt, Alia Bhatt and Aditya Roy Kapoor.
"I am working in 'Sadak 2' with my favorite director Mahesh Bhatt saab. He is directing a film after so many years. I play the villain in that film as well," he said.
Grover also has Sanjay Gupta's "Mumbai Saga" coming up.
"Sanjay Gupta is another favourite filmmaker of mine. I feel he presents his characters beautifully in all his films. Apart from me, John Abraham, Emraan Hashmi and my dear friends Jackie Shroff and Suniel Shetty and Rohit Roy are there in the film, too, with many others. It's exciting to be a part of such big films," Grover said.
Working in such mega projects gives him a sense that he is still relevant in the film industry. "It (working in big films) gives you a sense of being relevant. It makes me believe in my brand of acting and that is the reason I am part of such mega films (and am) playing mega characters," he observed, adding: "These roles excite me because people were forgetting iconic villains in the movies lately and these films will bring back the glory of the villain on screen. When filmmakers of such level as Mahesh Bhatt, Rohit Shetty and Sanjay Gupta think of bringing back an actor in their movies in such significant roles, it means there is an appetite among audience to see him onscreen."
Gulshan Grover made his Hindi film debut with "Hum Paanch" in 1980 and went on to become a part of successful films like such as "Avtaar", "Ram Lakhan", "Raja Babu", "Hera Pheri" and "Gangster" among others. In his heydays, he was called Bollywood's Bad Man and, over the years, he has been acknowledged as one of the most iconic screen villains in Hindi films.
Asked for his opinion on the current crop of Hindi films, he said: "I feel cinema has changed for better. Cinema has become more technique-backed as well. People are getting more systematic and more organised. So, I am happy."