Gulshan Grover

Gulshan Grover has been rather good at being bad and is one of the few actors in Bollywood who've been working with international productions without making a song and dance about it.

The trouble with Gulshan Grover is that he's good at being bad. A 20-year Bollywood veteran who has done more than 300 films, can now look back on his days of struggle without bitterness. "I just didn’t wake up one morning and say I’m a good-looking guy, because I’m not," he recounted during a press conference. "Believe me, for years it was tough and difficult to actually reach out to people who mattered and have them look at my work and say this is the guy we want."

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Born on 21 September 1955 and brought up in Delhi, Grover has been more bad than good when its come to his career. He began his acting career with the feature film Rocky (starring Sanjay Dutt) and has since acted in over 300 films. Spanning over a decade, his work includes some of the biggest national hits of all times and his awards span the most prestigious accolades in India.

The choice to be bad has been a natural one, but it hasn't been for lack of trying. Grover's reportoire extends from playing the good guy roles like the one he essayed in Nagesh Kukunoor's Teen Deewarein, where he plays the reformist-jailor, to being the worst man in the vicinity - a role like Chattan Singh in Soumitra Ranade's Janjantram, Mamamtram. Incidentally, few know that Grover also lent his voice to a song in the film!

He has also worked in international productions like the Second Jungle Book where he essayed the role of the main villain as the rebel chief. He has also acted in an Italian film as himself. Grover has of late been involved in doing a good turn for aspiring actors by serving as an ambassador for the new Audition for Hollywood Website which provides actors the chance to display their talents to entertainment industry decision makers.