Rang De Basanti may be out of sight,but never out of mind. If youve made your mark,you can make a comeback anytime, couple of minutes into the conversation and we were already trying to gauge whats is about Siddharth Narayan that makes him (pardon the cliche) different. At 30,the southern superstar has already delivered a proud track record of eight super duper hits out of nine. Hes called the Aamir Khan of south for he makes sure his films make money for everyone. A top ranker from SP Jain College of Management,Mumbai,he rejected corporate offers so that he could assist Mani Ratnam. To add to your list of complexes,the actors a trained vocalist,drummer,writer,producer and an MBA. He has,in fact,produced one of the biggest albums in Telegu called Oye. And he is also one of the highest paid actors down south. As we walk down this hall of fame,Siddharth stumps us with the most unbelievable line: Im a underdog in real life. For someone whose middle name is confidence,this was a tad too much. But what the heck,it goes pretty well with his latest offering. After leaving a mark with the audiences and filmmakers in RDB as the brooding Karan,the actor vanished from the scene only to resurface after four years in Bollywood with Chandan Aroras Striker. Post RDB,I had just found stardom in South and didnt want to abandon it. Now that Im back,I want to devote the next two years in making a market space for myself in the Hindi film industry. RDB,according to him,was an appetizer before the main course,and with interesting scripts coming his way,the actors being choosy. Well,people are still in shock that Im back! he laughs. As he sniffs around for work of consequence which is worth his effort and time,Siddharth says he prefers biographical author-backed roles,and that he is also dying to adapt the written word for it follows characters. No wonder he grabbed Striker,a real life inspired story about a carrom player called Suryakant,his failures,disappointments,how he fights crime and makes a living playing carrom. It reminded me of the hardcore single hero films like Arjun and Zanjeer, Siddharth wants to make it as a solo hero in the Hindi film industry. Although the films a medium budget flick,but with its strong eighties feel,real incidents and real people,the evergreen angry young man at the centre and the triumph of the human spirit,the actor feels this is a sure hit. It will find critical and mass appeal, says a confident Siddharth who would practise carrom in between shots,put on four kilos and even stylised his look on the lines of Kumar Gaurav! FYI: Siddharth has also produced the music of the film with a range of music directors for an ensemble soundtrack-and has turned playback singer. We got on board six music directors - Vishal Bharadwaj,Amit Trivedi,Yuvan Shankar Raja,Swanand Kirkire,Shailendra Bharve and Blaze to compose six different tracks for one album. He came to the industry to make films. I am primarily an actor and technical person,and all I want to do is make films, Siddharths eyeing the post of a pan India actor. But for now,its travel-time with Striker which releases on February 5. The best way to gauge your audience - travel and watch the film with them. Is someone trying to break Abhishek Bachchans record?
