Southern comfort!

Subhash K Jha

Stars from the South are set to sweep Hindi cinema over the next few weeks.

So far, Southern actors, be it the legendary Sivaji Ganesan or his awesome disciple Kamal Haasan, have not really carved a niche for themselves in Hindi cinema. But that could soon change.

In October, Kamal Haasan is all set to wow audiences in a double role as a commando officer and a psychotic killer in Suresh Krssna's Abhay (Aalavandhan in Tamil).

Next, there's Madhavan, the Jamshedpur-born Tamil actor, who found stardom in Tamil cinema with Mani Ratnam's Alai Payuthey and Gautam Menon's Minnalae.

Madhavan will make his Hindi film debut with, Rehnaa Hai Tere Dil Mein, the remake of Minnalae, being produced by box office hotshot Vashu Bhagnani.

But before that, Kerala's most revered and accomplished actor Mohanlal will make his belated Hindi film debut in Ramgopal Varma's lavish underworld epic, Company.

Extraordinarily humble and self-effacing, Mohanlal says he doesn't mind doing Hindi films as long as the role excites him.

"When Ramgopal Varma suddenly showed up in Kerala to offer me a policeman's role in Company, I agreed immediately. The cop that I play in this film is not like the usual cops in films. He behaves like a normal professional," says Mohanlal.

One major problem that South Indian actors face in Hindi cinema is the language. Madhavan and the Kerala-born Kay Kay Menon, who plays the lead in Anurag Kashyap's controversial Paanch, speak fluent Hindi as they've spent all their lives in Hindi-speaking areas. But for the other South-bred heroes, Hindi is a big hurdle.

Mohanlal, who lives in Madras with his family, says that as he plays a cop from Kerala in Company, his Hindi needn't be perfect.

Mohanlal will be doing two more Hindi films. Kadal (The Sea), to be directed by Malayalam director Shaji N Karun, will feature Jaya Bachchan alongside Mohanlal. The other, Sarpam, will be directed by avant garde Hindi director Kumar Shahani and will be based on a Malayalam short story.

Mohanlal's closest rival in Malayalam cinema, Mammootty, is also set to act in a Hindi film, Shafaq, with Raveena Tandon and Rinke Khanna.

But debut director Bappaditya Roy's project seems to have run into delays and so Hindi film audiences will first get to see Mohanlal at work.

Indo-Asian News Service