by Subhash K Jha

The Shock of Randeep Hooda's life is the surprise of Ram Gopal Varma's blue-eyed boy Mohit Ahlawat's career. Mohit, already in 4 of Ramu's forthcoming projects, will now play Randeep's role in Ramu's production of Shock.

Mohit says he's aware of the friction between Ramu and Randeep.

"I wouldn't like to say too much on this. It's not my place to do so. But it's a fact that Randeep's behaviour has been troubling a lot of people within Ram Gopal Varma productions. Whether it's a spot boy or the directors, they seem to have an issue with him."

"I've heard that during the shooting of Darna Zaroori Hai there were major issues between Randeep and the director. Even for Shock the director Jijy Philips was being told to make changes in the script, etc. I believe an actor's job is to act. He shouldn't concern himself with the other departments of a film."

Mohit has qualms about taking Randeep's place in Shock.

"I loved Jijy Philip's work in My Wife's Murder. The script of Shock is fantastic. We go into this immediately after Ramu completes the new version of James. In any case if Ramu wants me to do a film I'll do it blindly, no questions asked."

Two back-to-back films for Ramu's Factory, then a double role in King, and a possible project called Mission.... Then next year Mohit will be doing a light-hearted science-fiction film called Time Machine for RGV productions. What's the secret recipe for receiving such rich rewards from Ramu's repertoire?

"No recipe. I've just surrendered myself to Ramu's vision. I don't question his judgement. I know he means only the best for me. I would never sign a film outside Ram Gopal Varma's company. In fact I was offered Shyam Benegal's Chamki, just like Randeep was. I didn't even consider it."

James, now re-christened Shiv (harking back to Ram Gopal Varma's first Hindi film with Nagarajuna in the lead) will have Mohit Ahlawat transformed from the aimless drifter in the original film to a cop with a mission in the new avatar.

"I don't know how exactly I'm going to play this part," says the shy actor, rubbing the sleep off his face. "But I'm really looking forward to doing it all over again. I think Ramu intends to capture the mood of the action genre."