Bollywood knows Suriya: RGV

Ram Gopal Varma, who talks about his forthcoming film, Rakta Charitra and southern cinema
Rakta Charitra...
The story of Paritala Ravi, and Suri who ultimately killed him, is the most dramatic story I���������ve ever heard in my life. I���������ve a considerable knowledge on people who live on the dark side ��������� people who live violently, people who live around power.But the kind of drama surrounding these two characters is something I have never come across. But I���������m not here to take sides with people. If you look at Company, whether it was Ajay Devgn or Vivek Oberoi or Mohanlal, they were all caught in situations; they were a result of certain circumstances. I personally believe that no one can be entirely good or bad. I���������m capturing this as a filmmaker and not as a journalist. It is a very volatile, violent and intense film. Yes, there are so many sub-plots ��������� the political parties with which they were involved, their families, the women in their lives, but at the core of all this is the extreme enmity between two people.
Suriya���������s chances in Bollywood...
I think he is going to be very big in Hindi. Already, there is a lot of talk about him after seeing the rushes of Rakta Charitra. And two to three producers are thinking about signing him up for their next films. People in north India might not have seen it, but quite a lot of people in the film industry have seen his performance in Ghajini and they are impressed and feel he did better (than Aamir Khan). So, Bollywood knows who Suriya is and what his capacity is. It is only the public in north India which isn���������t aware of him because he has not done any Hindi film till now.
Stars from south not making it big in B-Town...
I mainly think this is because they aren���������t serious about it. They already have an established market and image down there. Also, they live there. And, most of them have not taken a serious look into making it big in Bollywood. They do it almost like a hobby; a one-off thing rather than being focused about it. I think if you make a decision you���������ve to go with it head on. You have to work on at least two films a year on a consistent level. And if you look at the past, the tendency of most south actors has been to do a remake of their already successful regional film in Hindi. Shiva was made in Hindi with Nagarjuna after it became a hit in Telugu, Chiranjeevi���������s Pratibandh was a remake of his Ankusam and Kamal Haasan came with Ek Duje Ke Liye, a remake of Maro Charitra. These were proven hits.
Northward bound...
Yes, there is a sudden surge in south actors coming to Bollwyood ��������� Suriya in my film, Vikram in Mani Ratnam���������s Raavan and Rana Daggubati in Dumm Maro Dumm. There are two reasons ��������� one, Bollywood is getting aware of the kind of talent that is out there. Secondly, we are making a different kind of cinema for which to get an ideal cast we are able to see actors beyond Bombay. The industry doesn���������t care about where you are from; whether you are good or not is about the only thing that it cares.
Bollywood at crossroads
I think right now, Bollywood is confused because of Ghajini and Wanted ��������� which were remakes of south films ���������becoming hits, in terms of sensibility. There is already an European and American sensibility in Hindi cinema. Today, Bollywood is at the crossroads between Hollywood and Kollywood. The problem with Hindi cinema is that it has to cater to too many markets unlike Kollywood, where it is only about one region. We do not exactly know what people in Bihar like and what people in the south like.
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