Surya from Tamil Ghajini will play Vivek's nemesis in RGV's Rakta Charitra

By Joginder Tuteja Bollywood Hungama News Network

This is turning out to be some frantic time at the Ram Gopal Varma office, what with an announcement a day being made, courtesy three of his films being at different stage of production - Agyaat, Rann and Rakta Charitra.

The latest piece of news that has made a sudden impact is that of an actor finally being finalized to play the role of Suri in Rakta Charitra. He is none other than Tamil superstar Surya who played the part of the lead protagonist in Ghajini much before Aamir Khan reprised the same role in the film's Hindi version. Making a mark with dozens of tattoo marks on his body years back, he created history with Ghajini before Aamir Khan took the film to an altogether different level.

Now Surya has been cast as Paritala Ravi's [Vivek Oberoi] nemesis in Rakta Charitra, one of the most ambitious ventures of Ram Gopal Varma in the recent times. This has come as a complete surprise since till about a fortnight back; Manoj Bajpai's name was floating around the industry circles. Even though Ramu had denied Manoj's inclusion by stating that it was not yet decided that who was going to play the part of Suri, he had re-emphasized the point that his character was very integral to Rakta Charitra, especially in the second part of the film (for the uninitiated, Rakta Charitra is a two part film that would be released in January and April 2010 respectively).

With Surya's name being confirmed for the said role, it dashes the hopes of countless Bollywood followers who were hoping for a casting coup of sorts by seeing Ramu make peace with both Vivek Oberoi and Manoj Bajpai in one go.

Says a source attached to the film, "This character is quite strong and Ramu was mighty impressed with what he saw of Surya in Ghajini and some other films that he has done. He felt that for a strong role like that of Suri, a stronger personality was the need of the hour. Also, bringing Vivek and Surya on the same platform is bound to make heads turn as their roles are such that their scenes together would get some high voltage drama on screen."

Though Surya was unavailable for comment, sources close to him state that he was just waiting for an opportunity like Rakta Charitra to come his way. "He was noticed by Hindi filmmakers after his Tamil Ghajini but came into quite some limelight once Aamir's version of the film released. Suddenly, Bollywood woke up to him and he was being approached with interesting offers. However, Ramu's offer turned out to be the most tempting of the lot and he grabbed it with both hands", he says.

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