Chocolate hero Ganesh Venkataraman — who has made a mark in both Tamil and Telegu films — will make his Bollywood debut with ‘Guns of Benares.’
This Hindi remake of the Dhanush film ‘Polladhavan’ is directed by Shekhar Suri and is set in Benares. While Karan Nath plays the role Dhanush played in the original, Ganesh is playing the baddie originally played by Daniel Balaji.
“When director Shekhar narrated my character, I absolutely loved it,” said Ganesh, who entered films with ‘Abhiyum Naanum’ in Tamil. Remember Joginder Singh, the Sikh guy in love with a Tamilian girl?
“I haven’t played a rugged gangster in my career. My character is a cocaine addict with a bad attitude. I am sporting a rugged beard and a tattoo of an aghori baba on my arms.”
Added the Mumbai-bred actor: “Though I can speak fluent Hindi, I went to Benares prior to the shooting to pick up the [Uttar Pradesh] lingo and to study the body language of the local mafia.”
‘Guns of Benares’ also stars Nathalia Kaur in the female lead. Vinod Khanna, Abhimanyu Singh and Shilpa Shirodkar are playing important roles. Music is by Sohail Sen and talks are on with G.V. Prakash to compose the background score.
