Suniel takes Naxalite turn in Red Alert

“Sanjay Dutt had once called Suniel warning that he was pitted against all NSD actors in the movie. After this Suniel was a little apprehensive on playing the role,” the source said.

Shetty even met director Anant Mahadevan to seek a clarification on the fate of the film,based on the true story of a farmer from Andhra Pradesh.

Admitting that Shetty did not want to play the lead role initially,Mahadevan said,”He told me that a solo Suniel Shetty wouldn’t work with the audience”.

After a presentation by the director,the actor was,however,impressed by the character of ‘Narsimha’,a poor farm labourer who finds himself in the midst of Naxalites.

“I told him that everyone knows how an actor like Naseeruddin Shah performs,but your performance will be the surprise package of the film. It will break your image of a macho man as you play a broken,frightened and hapless farmer,” the director said.

Besides getting appreciation at the 6th Stuttgart Film Festival in 2009,Shetty was honoured with the best actor award last year at the South Asian International Film Festival (SAIFF).

Mahadevan had also advised Shetty to take inspiration from the character of Ditchpran,a farmer from Cambodia in the Oscar-winning film Killing Fields.

“He watched the film on my advice and took reference from the character. I still wanted him to be spontaneous,” he said.