Want to explore different roles, mother fed up of watching me play villain: Kelly Dorji

Thimphu, Aug 12 (PTI) Actor Kelly Dorji says he is done playing negative parts in Indian films and wants to explore more diverse roles on streaming and other platforms for his comeback after a self-imposed hiatus.

Known for his negative turn in films such as Ajay Devgn-starrer “Tango Charlie” and featured in Telugu hits like “Don” and “Ek Ka Dum”, Dorji, 53, went back to Bhutan a decade ago to establish multiple businesses, including a travel company and a famous gastro pub in Thimphu.

Dorji, who is also the co-director of successful literature festival “Bhutan Echoes” (formerly known as ‘Mountain Echoes’), said acting continues to be his “first love” but he is not keen to play the quintessential bad guy.

“My mother never watches my films till the end because she knows what’s going to happen. She puts up with me beating everybody up through the film but before the film comes to an end, she stops it. She is like, ‘I know what’s happening next, I don’t want to watch’.

“I know I am typecast, I can’t help this. This is my mould now for the rest of my life. I am this villain, Kelly Dorji, the ‘bad guy’. But I am not so bad in my real life so I don’t mind exploring something different now,” Dorji told PTI in an interview on the sidelines of the just concluded ‘Bhutan Echoes’ 2024.

The actor-turned-entrepreneur said he feels fortunate that people in India still think of him and call him for new projects every now and then without him lobbying too hard. “During the pandemic I kept saying ‘no’ to all the offers. I was at the peak of my career, the scripts, of course, were regular mainstream cinema. When the offers started dwindling, I had a lot to think about. But I have reached a point in my life where I want to return to my amateur theatre life, not in theatre per se, but in films or theatre medium. That’s when I discovered the possibility of OTT,” Dorji said.

He is excited to be starring in Netflix’s ‘Delhi Crime’ season 3. He recently also featured in Vikrant Massey-starrer “Black Out” (2024) on Jio Cinema.

Calling himself a fan of actor Rajkummar Rao, especially his performances in “Srikanth” and “Monica, O My Darling”, Dorji said if the role is fulfilling, he doesn’t mind its length.

It could be a “sleazy paanwala” or “a tourist standing in a line at the airport”.

The super model-turned-actor, who had a highly successful modelling career along with the likes of Milind Soman, Arjun Rampal and Rahul Dev, said the Bhutanese film industry produces “25 to 30 films” a year.

“This is a very good number for a country which has a very small population of seven lakh people, and the actual film going population is a fraction of that. So it is rather healthy, especially if we can maintain that.

“I think the numbers (of films being produced) are going to go up a little more, especially with the introduction of our film festival here at the Bhutan Echoes… I see future film makers in Bhutan,” said the actor, who also acted in Bhutanese film “Sem Gawai Tasha” in 2011.

The 13th edition of “Bhutan Echoes: Drukyul’s Arts and Literature Festival” this year also hosted film screening of international and national films, including that of “Last Film Show” (‘Chhello Show’), India’s official entry for the ‘Best International Feature Film’ at the 95th Academy Awards.

Korean translator and writer Anton Hur, bestselling American writer Will Schwalbe, former diplomat author Navtej Sarna, novelist Shobhaa De and poet Tishani Doshi were among the 70 distinguished speakers from over a dozen countries that participated in the recently concluded festival.