\'The Businessman\' - Telugu director\'s big ticket to Bollywood

By Subhash K. Jha

Mumbai, May 21 (IANS) Well-known Telugu director Puri Jagannath, who will wield the megaphone for Ram Gopal Varma's next production venture "The Businessman", says the film will mark his true beginning in Bollywood.

"Many years ago I tried to crack the Hindi market with a film 'Shart' starring Tusshar Kapoor. That was a disaster. So I see 'The Businessman' as my true beginning in Bollywood," Puri, one of the most successful directors in Telugu film industry, told IANS.

He gave hits like "Idiot", "Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi", and "Pokiri".

"The Businessman" will go on floors in September and southern star Suriya will play the lead role in the movie.

In fact, Varma has put his proposed Amitabh Bachchan-starrer "Bhudda" on the backburner to make "The Businessman".

"It's the story of a gangster's journey from Chennai to Mumbai in three languages Hindi, Tamil and Telugu," said Puri.

Puri, who has written the screenplay on his own, admits there is a linguistic problem in creating "The Businessman" in Hindi.

"I agree, I don't know the language. Neither does Ramu nor Suriya. But I don't think that would be a problem."

Varma, who will produce the film, is far more forthright, "I'd have you know that Murugadoss, who made 'Ghajini', and Prabhu Deva, who directed 'Wanted' didn't even know the Hindi alphabet and couldn't speak a word of Hindi. I think we'll manage quite well."