Nikhil Siddharth leads Tamil film ‘Arjun Suravaram’

Tamil film ‘Kanithan’, a 2016 action thriller with Atharvaa in the lead, explored the scam around fake degree certificates and the illegal business behind it.

TN Santosh, former assistant of Tamil director AR Murugadoss, started his career with this film. Santosh is now ready with its Telugu remake titled, ‘Arjun Suravaram.’

Nikhil Siddhartha takes on Atharvaa’s role from the original as an investigative journalist and Lavanya Tripathi is paired opposite him. Tarun Arora who played the baddy in the original reprises the same character.

“Most of the story of ‘Kanithan’ remains the same,” said Santosh. “Two years have gone by and with changes in the industry and in the perspective of the audience, I have made it more emotional. There is a greater depth to the story in ‘Arjun Suravaram’. Translating the script into Telugu was a challenge especially when you are trying to make it sound colloquial. Surprisingly a lot of English words are used today in the colloquial vocabulary.”

‘Arjun Suravaram’ was largely shot in Hyderabad to ensure the local flavour. The interval block of the story was filmed in the neighbourhood of Charminar, which was a challenging shoot.

Vennela Kishore, who often plays the hero’s side kick, takes on Karunakaran’s character from the original.

“He is a good performer and I have given him scope to act besides doing comedy. There is more to his character,” Santosh said.

Veteran actor Nagineedu reprises Adukalam Naren’s role from the original as Siddhartha’s on-screen father.

About Siddhartha, Santosh said that he was less a star and more an assistant director. “Nikhil was always by my side with questions and involved in the filming,” he said.

‘Arjun Suravaram’ produced by Rajkumar Akella releases in the UAE on November 29.