Actor Gulshan Grover in conversation with India Today, who is promoting his upcoming series. Matka Kingtalks candidly about the evolution of crime storytelling in Hindi cinema and whether he misses the era of larger-than-life, unapologetic villains.

Talking about how crime storytelling has changed over the years, Grover said that evolution is inevitable in all aspects of life, and cinema is no exception. He said, “Look, the thing is that evolution and change is happening everywhere. It is happening at your home, it is happening outside, it is happening everywhere. Change is happening at your workplace, be it storytelling, direction, acting, everything is bound to change.”

The actor stressed that it is necessary to embrace change: “I have an understanding: People who don’t go with change may wear very modern clothes, but their vision is still old. You see some old people sitting under a tree, smoking hookah and saying, ‘in our times (In our time)’, I don’t relate to that. I don’t subscribe to that. “You have to constantly change like everything.”

Also, Grover highlighted how trends from the past often come back in the present. He said, “These days we are wearing bell-bottoms – it’s all coming back. A lot of amazing songs are coming back as remakes. The performances are coming back.”

Recalling their recent conversation, the actor shared an anecdote related to the veteran star. “Two days ago, Shatrughan Sinha was there, who has played anti-heroes, strong, powerful characters, Rakesh Roshan, Shashi Ranjan – we were having dinner. So, I came in late, and he (Sinha) said, ‘I saw stalwart. Gulshan Grover, that was a movie you should have been in”, Grover said.

He further revealed, “He (Sinha) even said how great it would have been if I had played Akshay Khanna’s role of Rahman the dacoit. So, I said, even I agree with it. The public also agrees.”

The actor further added, “I’m referencing how many of those era-looking characters have come back. Even some of the settings, the drums and all that used to be in every movie, have come back. This was the time, and there doesn’t seem to be any progress.”

Addressing the absence of classic, fear-inducing villains, Grover said it reflected social change rather than creative differences. “I think there is no such problem villain The (antagonists), the unforgiving villains, are gone – they will return. Because the filmmaker writes whatever is happening in the society. They take inspiration from there,” he said.

The actor emphasized that such characters are less visible today because parallels are rare in real life: “You would never see someone go to a restaurant and people walk away, or someone gets out of a car with a cigarette in their hand and people run away. People like that aren’t here anymore; so, we don’t see them in movies.”

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However, Grover believes that the essence of dark, layered storytelling is still present.

He said, “Like the Matka King. It’s a certain time, a certain kind of illegal world, somewhat dangerous, somewhat negative, flawed – it gives you that feeling. It’s very interesting. It’s something I definitely want to see.”

The actor further added, “When you have filmmakers like Siddharth Roy Kapur and his associates, directors like Nagraj Manjule and actors like these, it’s a wonderful combination. We were also talking about music. Someone pointed out how the title track was made, how the mix of certain instruments was used. So it’s coming back in a way, in a different way, for people whose taste buds want to experience that time, that kind of crime.”

He concluded, “So, I think everything is coming back, but in a different form.”