/> After considering names like Naseeruddin Shah and Victor Bannerjee producer Bunty Walia and director Rahul Dholakia have finally zeroed in on the actor to play the Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani in Lamhaa.

Anupam Kher who's known to play several controversial roles in his career from the terrorist Dr Dang in Karm to the gay characters in Mast Kalandar and Dulham Hum Le Jayenge, has taken on the Geelani's part, in spite of being one of many Kashmiri Pandits who have been rendered homeless by the separatist movement in Kashmir.

The film's producer and director have met the controversial Kashmiri leader and let it be be known that their film will encompass Geelani and his politics.

But to Anupam who has just returned from the Indo-Pak border after shooting for the Shahid-Rani starrer tentatively called Arippa, Geelani is just another role.

"I'm definitely not taking the politics of the character personally. Nor am I going to let my personal ideology mingle with the character. Even when I play a real-life character I play him in my own way. Therefore this character will be interpreted more through my personal history than the broader history."

Underplaying the relevance of the Geelani character Anupam says, "To me Neeraj Pandey's Wednesday or the children's film Hawaii Dada which I've just completed are far more important at the moment.

Playing a biographical character doesn't make Lamhaa more important to me as an actor.What excites me is, going back to Kashmir to shoot a second time this year. I was there earlier for Santosh Sivan's Tahaan. And I had a wonderful time."

Anupam now intends to sit down with director Rahul Dholakia to discuss the look and dialogues for his character.

"Of course there will be a different look. A beard, etc. I also have to be a very good orator speaking in fluent Urdu. I've been very busy shooting the Yashraj film I'll now start preparing for this part."