Kunal Kemmu, who usually plays a charming guy-next-door in films, surprised the audience with his intense turn as the villain Michael Rodriguez in ‘Malang‘. Unleashing a never-before-seen avatar, the actor garnered a lot of praise for his performance in the Mohit Suri-directorial. As the film completes a year of its release today, Kunal opens up on what made him sign up for the character with shades of gray. “The role itself. I loved Michael Rodriguez the moment Mohit told me about the film and the character. And once I read the script, I was sure I wanted to do it. Also, it was Mohit directing so that was just a cherry on the cake,” exults Kunal

While the film fetched him a lot of rave reviews, Kunal reveals the best compliment came from his wife, “I remember Soha telling me that she was scared to return home with me post the screening (laughs).”

Reiterating that he has a ‘never say never’ attitude, Kunal rubbishes reservations about playing a negative character. “I never had any inhibitions about playing a negative or grey role. In fact, there is a certain charm to playing roles like that as long as they are written well,” he asserts. Interestingly, ‘Malang’ resulted in a deluge of offers to play similar negative characters for the actor. “But I haven’t yet found one that is equally or more attractive and challenging,” he concludes.