Bad and loving it!
May 07, 2004

He’s Bollywood’s favourite bad man these days following Main Hoon Naa. And Sunil Shetty loves every minute of the attention. ‘‘Raghavan in Main Hoon Naa is an amazing character. Somewhere down the line, the whole film revolves around him and his devious machinations.’’ Sunil’s soft voice belies the action 
image which has long been his staple role. ‘‘But Raghavan was not bad just for the heck of it,’’ he justifies, ‘‘He is a fanatical patriotic. Also, his son’s death at the hands of the enemy makes him what he is.’’ 
The bad guy in Dhadkan, Khel, Rudraksh, Main Hoon Naa.... So, are his days as a leading man behind him? ‘‘Today,as an actor, my priority is roles that give me scope to perform. In this respect, I’m game for anything.’’ Viewers who have had their full of Sunil playing the bad guy can look forward to a comic turn in Phir Hera Pheri. ‘‘I love doing comedy. This choice is followed by negative roles. Then come the nice parts,’’ he says. The explanation for this is simple: ‘‘There is a graph to both comic and negative roles. But a nice guy is always nice.’’ 
Main Hoon Naasees Sunil teaming up with Shah Rukh for the first time. ‘‘Working with him was an enjoyable experience. After working with him on his production, I can understand why he is so successful. He is involved in every aspect of a film, be it the dance steps or the action sequences.’’ And how well does he as a producer identify with this style of working? ‘‘Production is a very tough job. It involves a lot of hard work and sweat, but I believe that hard work pays off.’’ 
Sunil is now busy with Rakht, in which he has tried to ‘‘rectify the mistakes’’ made in Khel. ‘‘I gave Khel my best shot, but something didn’t work out somewhere. But hard work always pays.’’ So which role would he want viewers to watch out for? Padmashree Laloo Prasad Yadav. ‘‘It’s a crazy comedy.’’ Sunil Shetty’s game for a few laughs. Yes, he’s certainly not a baddie off-screen.