Another Malayalam director steps into Bollywood

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 11 (IANS) After Priyadarshan and Santosh Sivan, it is the turn of another Malayalam film director T.K. Rajeev Kumar now to step big time into Bollywood.

National Award winner Kumar, 46, has just finished shooting "Chal Chala Chal" starring Govinda, Om Puri and Reema Sen and the film is to be released in May.

His foray into Bollywood has been through Fuel Picture Company owned by none other than Priyadarshan and actor Sunil Shetty, who has produced the film.

The film is based on the Malayalam hit "Varavelpu" in which Mohanlal returns from a brief stint in the Middle East and begins to operate a private bus service.

Kumar said only the basic theme of "Varavelpu" - the bus and the hero - has been taken and woven into a film to suit Hindi filmgoers.

"After 45 days of shooting, I feel thoroughly satisfied of the outcome. Believe me, Govinda is a tremendous actor and this is one film that is totally different from his normal roles," said Kumar.

The film has been shot in and around Pune, with the bus connecting the city with a village.

"Govinda's flexibility as an actor has been fully exploited and the film would have two songs and the music has been scored by Anu Malik. The dialogues have been written by Manisha Khorde of 'Malamaal Weekly'," said Kumar.

He has directed 15 Malayalam films and has served as chairman of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy. He was also chairman of the jury for the just-announced 2006 Kerala State Film Awards. He won the National Award for the film "Jalamarmaram" in 2000.