Bollywood baddie Gulshan Grover still in the race for villain role

The man of multifarious guises � he never tires of being in the thick of the news -- is in a bit of a spot for jumping the gun. But quiz Bollywood baddie Gulshan Grover about the disputed claim that he has been pencilled in to play the villain in the next James Bond flick, he sticks to his gun with all the argumentative might at his disposal.

Countering speculation in a section of the Indian media that he is indulging in a bit of kite flying, Grover insists that he is still very much in the race - reports India Daily.

�I met senior representatives of the casting agency for Casino Royale in Los Angeles,� he says. �The confirmation will take a while in coming.�

The actor however refuses to say anything more than that at this juncture because he feels that might work against him and hurt his chances of eventually clinching the coveted role. The implication is that the final decision on who will play Le Chiffre in Casino Royale is still pending.

He asserts that he had no hand in triggering the speculation. �Newspapers in the UK started it. All I told them was that it would be a great honour for me and my country if I did indeed land the role,� he says.

Grover says that he is really proud of the fact that he has of late been steadily receiving acting assignments in American and European films.

�I see myself as a cultural ambassador of my country,� he adds. �I have done 350-plus Indian films but I am not content to rest on my oars. That is why I am exploring professional avenues all over the world.�

The �baa�aad man� of commercial Hindi cinema sees himself as somebody who is carrying on the �great work� that the likes of Saeed Jaffrey, Kabir Bedi and Persis Khambatta had begun.

�They bagged significant roles in foreign films at a time when the West knew next to nothing about Bollywood,� he says.

Grover is also a great admirer of the more recent global breakthroughs that the likes of Om Puri, Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah and Aishwarya Rai have made.

�If Bollywood is today known the world over,� he says, �these actors have played a substantial role in the transformation.�

Thanks to `kyvan` for the alert.

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