Bollywood News

/> After Shah Rukh Khan as a hockey camp in Chak De India and John Abraham as a football pro in the soon-to-be-released Goal, it Rang De Basanti's much-acclaimed Siddharth who plays a cool carom ka pasha in talented director Chandan Arora's third feature film.

Entitled Striker, the film's main protagonist Siddharth's character is based on the life and times of a real-life do-gooder and carrom whiz from the slums of Malavni named Suryakant.

Siddharth who has said a firm no to several posh offers from Mumbai including Rakeysh Mehra's Delhi 6 and David Dhawan's film for UTV, has quietly been preparing for the new challenge in his acting life.

A carrom player from the outset, Siddharth has been polishing up his game.

Says Chandan who earlier made two extremely interesting films Main Madhuri Dixit Ban-na Chahti Hoon and Main Meri Patni Aur Woh, "Siddharth has become an expert at carrom. By the time we hit the floors Siddharth could beat anyone at the game.

He has met with the real-life Suryakant several times. He has also spent sizeable time in Malavni getting the feel of the place.Though he functions from the South he has spent a large part of his life in Delhi and Mumbai. So he speaks very fluent Hindi."

Striker is set in the 1980s and will move through a labyrinth of socio-cultural political issues as seen through the eyes of the slum-protagonist.

Says Chandan, "I was researching for a television series on the gangs of Mumbai Malavni is like this one cultural hubub. Unlike Dharavi which is a planned slum, Malavni just happened. People and communities from all across Mumbai who were rendered homeless just converged on this slum. So to begin with, it was more a refugee camp than a slum."

Chandan Arora who worked closely with Ram Gopal Varma before breaking loose, shot the film on location in Malavni and also recreated key scenes and situations on sets.

"But the game of carrom presided over the goings-on, just as it does in the slum. Lakhs of rupees go into betting over the game. Carrom is a way of life in Malavni, " explains Arora.

Vidya Malvade from Chak De India, model Nicolette Bird and South Indian actress Padma Priya have been finalized.

Ironically Chandan, like Shimit Amin who made a terrific hockey film after leaving Ram Gopal Varma's Factory, is all set to give another national game a hand-up.