Kelly Kende Dorji doesn’t want to talk about his royal connections. But ask him about his relationship with the reigning Bhutan monarch Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Kelly reveals that he is one of the closest friends of his second cousin.
“I am very close to him. I always visit him when I go to the palace,” says Kelly who makes two mandatory trips to his home country every year.
Though international pressure was mounting on every state with absolute monarchy from the international community, Kelly says the members of the royal family don’t nurture any grudge for the shift in powers. “There was no resistance from any part of the royal family when we were told (by Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the former king) that we have to shift to democracy. In fact, the members of the royal family were asked to go around the country to educate the people about democracy,” he adds.
Nursing a year-old injury and walking with the help of a crutch after a knee operation, Kelly says he is getting better returns after he decided to play bad guy. “Negative roles have worked for me. Today I have got a lot of movies down south. I like the fact that I am juggling dates with south film industry and Bollywood,” he ends after saying he’s playing the villain in the sequel of Krantiveer to be directed by Mehul Kumar.
