Kay Kay Menon who is known for his grey shades in ‘Sarkar’ will be seen in a lead role opposite Bipasha Basu in Madhur Bhandarkar’s ‘Corporate’.

You will be seen opposite Bipasha Basu and she has a power packed role in the film.
Even if Bipasha plays the protagonist, my role is equally important in the film. If I can judge for myself that a film can be made without me I do not sign it. When Madhur approached me with his script, I was thrilled because it was a trilogy which he is planning to make. I have seen Page 3, and I think Atul Kulkarni’s character was as strong as Konkona’s in the film. It would be wrong to tag him as a feminist film-maker. His male characters are equally interesting - he has both spineless and intelligent male characters in his films.

In a recent interview Bipasha confessed to you being hotter than her and said that you were sexy and intelligent.
(Laughs) I take it as a compliment, and it makes me feel special when you hear such good things about yourself from a person who has stormed the nation with her screen presence and sex appeal. Bipasha is a genuine person and I think she and John make a fabulous couple. As for me being sexy and hot, I would like to borrow a line from William Shakespeare here - ‘The eye knows not by itself but by reflection’.

You did a cameo with Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan in your last release Sarkar. Doesn't screen time bother you?
I would definitely want to carry a significant part of the film on my shoulders and would look for such roles before signing a film. But my role in Ram Gopal Varma’s ‘Sarkar’ was well-carved out and besides I have admired Amitabh Bachchan since childhood. Sharing the same frame with him is every actor’s dream. I agreed to do a small role in Milan Luthria’s ‘Deewaar’ and also in RGV’s ‘Sarkar’ only because of Mr. Bachchan. I can do any kind of role to share the screen with him and Naseeruddin Shah, the two actors I idolise.

Both your releases saw you in negative roles. Do you enjoy playing the antagonist?
Well, I am not the kind of person who would reject villainous roles on the grounds of people’s reaction. I am an actor and I am here to do a variety of roles. As a matter of fact my grey characters were grey are remembered. Nowadays the line between an antagonist and protagonist is getting blurred. Even Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan play grey characters.

If given a chance, are you confident about running around trees?
If there is a scope to do, then why not? It’s just a matter of time. You never know. I might do a song-and-dance sequence better than the kind of roles I have essayed till date. People have this pre-conceived notion about me because they haven’t seen me doing such stuff on screen. I am a good actor - it’s not that before Sarkar I was a bad actor, but people started recognising me after watching that film. If my debut film Paanch had released then you would have seen me singing and people would have cast me as a rock star! (Laughs) The versatility of an actor does not depend on an actor only, but also on the producer who is willing to take the risk and invest money in a challenging script.

Is it true that you are extremely choosy about your films?
It’s a fallacy. It’s not that offers are pouring in and I am rejecting scripts everyday. I am offered a few films from which I try to pick the best. As an actor you need to live life with dignity. If I like a project, then I charge a fee lesser than my market value, because that helps me to maintain my dignity as an actor.