/> British auteur director Chistopher Miles who's best known for his bio-pic The Priest Of Love on D.H Lawrence, is currently in Mumbai for the casting of his new film, another huge bio-pic, this time on the life of the last Egyptian Pharoah King Farouk, whose colourful and controversial lifestyle made him the brunt of innumerable barbs and arched-eyebrows.

Most interestingly Miles has decided to cast a Bollywood actor as Cairo's Cool Casanova.

In what's possibly the biggest international casting of an Indian actor since Victor Bannerjee as Dr Aziz In David Lean's A Passage To India, 25-year old Ruslaan Mumtaz has bagged the dream role in Miles' film.

In a daze hours after the deal was finalized Ruslaan says, "I had never even dreamt of getting the role. After all King Farouk was Egyptian, I'm Indian.

But the cinematographer of my first film Amitabha Singh who's also going to be the chief-assistant DOP for Christopher's project, showed my pictures to the director. He was immediately stuck by my physical resemblance to King Farouk.

He saw my debut film Mera Pehla Pehla Pyar and made up his mind. When he flew down to Mumbai to meet me this weekend I couldn't believe it was all happening."

The film chronicles Faroukh's playboyish lifestyle and his relationship with a British girl,to be possibly played by Keira Knightley, although the film revolves from first frame to last around Ruslaan.

"King Farouk died young, at age 45 because of his hedonistic lifestyle. The Last Pharoah will go back to his life at age 21-23. I'm catching up on visual and printed material on Farouk.

I must say he was quite a cool cat. He loved ladies and red fast cars. So do I! And he'd acquire both in every shape and size. I'd love to do the same," Ruslaan chuckles as he prepares for a challenge that would have to equal Ian MacKellan's portrayal of D H Lawrence in Christopher Miles' bio-pic.

Miles wanted one final audition with Ruslaan in a moustache before clinching the deal.

"The mouche is easy to grow. Now my real hard work begins," exults the young actor.

"I've been given video tapes on King Farouk to study his body language and facial expressions. I must say I do resemble him quite a lot. But he was bulky, in fact fat. I've gone the other way recently and lost lots of weight.

Now I've been ordered to put on weight.So I've to start binging. I can't get any luckier.I get a role any Indian actor would kill for, and I get to flirt with flab."

Ruslaan can't believe what's happening to him. "Frankly after my debut I just didn't know what to do next. I guess I've 'Miles' to go."