15 years of Black Friday: Pavan Malhotra says, ‘People still come up to me and say I played the role of Tiger Memon to a T’

Actor Pavan Malhotra says that his role despite not having many scenes in the film, left a massive impact.

Black Friday is a film very close to Pavan Malhotra’s heart. The actor, who played Tiger Memon was a difficult one to crack but he is happy that people who knew him personally have often told Malhotra that he totally nailed the role.

Actor Pavan Malhotra was part of Anurag Kashyap’s Black Friday.

Talking about the prep for the Anurag Kashyap-directed film which chronicles the events that led to the 1993 Bombay bombings and the subsequent police investigation, Malhotra, says, “I had the script first. Anurag told me to read the book Black Friday: The True Story of the Bombay Bomb Blasts, by Hussain Zaidi as he said that the script was very close to the book and it would help me build the character.”

However, the actor says he still tried to get in touch with people who knew Tiger Memon.

“There was some person who said he knew him and he said he was very flamboyant and liked to dress well and other aspect that he used to eat supari. That way I got some information. After the film got released, people told me that I did played the role to a T. I was exactly how he was. I hadn’t met him and yet cracking the role the way I did and people appreciating it even today is a big compliment for me.”

“If you watch the film, length-wise Tiger Memon ka role sabse kam hai in terms of scenes, he has the least number. But he still stands out. He is the lead. It was a very good experience working on this film,” he explains.

Crediting Kashyap for pulling off a casting coup with actors like Kay Kay Menon, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Zakir Hussain, Asif Basra and Gajraj Rao, Malhotra says, “The shoot went very smooth. I had once asked Kahsyap that in all his films he ends up choosing the best and he told me, main leta hi aise log ha jo bhare hote hain.”