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Growing up in Kalyug

Once a child actor, Kunal Khemu has opened a new innings in the big bad world of adults

KALYUG KA HERO Kunal Khemu has no idols to imitate Photo: V. SUDERSHAN

You might remember watching him in several Bollywood films like Hum Hai Rahi Pyar Ke, Raja Hindustani, Zakham, to name just a few, as a child artiste. But the child of yesteryear has now become a grown-up man. Kunal Khemu is all set to start a new innings in Bollywood with Kalyug, a Mukesh Bhatt film co-starring Emraan Hashmi, Ashutosh Rana, Amrita Singh and other debutantes Deepal Shaw and Smilie Suri. Kunal was in New Delhi this past week for a media interaction to promote his film.

Acting is not something new for this 22-year-old graduate from Mumbai University who has grown up in a family intimately connected with show business. Not surprisingly, acting came as a natural inherent quality in him.

Eleven films old

"I started my acting career with a small role in Ved Rahi's popular TV serial Gul Gulshan Gulfam. My father was a National School of Drama student and a well-known playwright of Jammu and Kashmir, who also worked as an assistant director with Shyam Benegal, apart from being the Cultural Secretary of the State," explains Kunal, who has appeared in almost 11 films as a child artiste before Kalyug happened to him.

"My role is of a husband whose intimate moments of first night with his wife are secretly filmed on a tape. He gets blamed for the making of the blue film. The story revolves around proving my innocence and uncovering the truth behind the blue film. The film deals with the evil of pornography," says the actor, clad in jeans, T-shirt and a smart jacket.

In an industry where everybody wants to prove his presence and become a style icon, Kunal has no ideals to imitate but wants to make his own style statement.

"Every person of my age should dream big and set a goal in life and work to achieve it, no matter what comes." With this message he sums up.

SANJEEV CHOUDHARY

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