Any kind of harassment needs to be looked into seriously: Kay Kay Menon

For a man who shied away from media glare, actor Kay Kay Menon has since the past few years been more accessible. On 3 October, the actor stepped out for the launch of his maiden web-series, titled The Great Indian Dysfunctional Family, that will stream on Alt Balaji from 10 October. 

During the press conference, Menon was asked about the raging Tanushree Dutta - Nana Patekar controversy. Dutta has accused Patekar of sexual harassment and intimidation on the sets of Horn OK Pleassss (2009) in 2008. A host of celebrities including Farhan Akhtar, Priyanka Chopra, Sonam Kapoor and Freida Pinto have spoken out in support of Dutta for the courage she has shown in raising the issue.  

When asked what he thought of the controversy, Menon said, “I can speak of it as a principle for I don't have the details of the case. Nor am I the judiciary, so it is not right to comment. What I will say though is that any kind of harassment needs to be looked into seriously.” 

On work front, Menon is gearing up for The Great Indian Dysfunctional Family.

Explaining why he agreed to be a part of this series, Menon said, “I’m so glad that this is my first web-series [writer] Tanveer Bookwala gave me the entire brief once and I immediately said ok. That is because this kind of a family, this kind of craft is very difficult to obtain, while you are making a film or a series. There is a lot of dark, and also dark humour, at the same time, it has got sensitive moments."

Menon plays Vikram, the older son of the Ranaut family. Vikram is not the most cordial man around. He is not pleased to see his younger brother Samar (Barun Sobti) return to the family, with his wife Sonali (Eisha Chopra), after eight years. Veteran actress Swarup Sampat also makes a rare appearance as the mother of Samar and Vikram. 

The advantage of a web-series is that it doesn’t have t go through a censor board. So, creatively speaking, making a web-series must be easier than making a film. It’s not the creative freedom, though, that attracted Menon to this series. “My censor is always on. I don't see things [script] as easy or tough, I see it as interesting on uninteresting. It is not that every web-series will be good, it depends entirely on what it provides you. This one was pretty intricate, interesting screenplay. I look at the story, not the family in it,” Menon said.

Eisha Chopra is also one of the story writers of the series. Despite being the writer, Chopra said she had to audition for the role. "I didn't know that I was writing for myself. But when you are writing you always put an aspect of yourself into someone. I used myself a lot for this character. So, it is not terribly far away from whom I am. That way, it was easy at some level, but it was also a challenge to depart from yourself. I did the audition and so I’m legitimate here,” Chopra said.

Watch the trailer of The Great Indian Dysfunctional Family below: