The reason I put of Mr. Bean fame since SM readers are from all over the world and some (I doubt though) might not know Rowal Atkinson.

Or something like that. One of my comedy heroes. Not for Mr Bean though. Blackadder. Greatest comedy of all time.

I guess there was bidding war between Johnny Depp and Russell Crowe over the rights of Shantaram. The price was couple million dollars.

I guess real Gregory David Roberts a lot older than Shantaram of India.

Who will play myself ?…….Rowan Atkinson of Mr. Bean fame. Once, I was in Houston, a girl came to me, she smiled and said, “Mr. Bean”. I just laughed.

Why don’t they get Shantaram to play himself when he’s older? He’s already got the acting chops – as long as the movie ends up being a dushm dushm action caper with big hair and goatees. I read some of his book, crazy.

Who would you get to play yourself? I’d get Joe Pesci.

Although I appreciate Mano’s thoughts, it is hardly practical to aspire for change SK proportions. We must devise a literacy campaign uniquely our own.

In real life, and all the roles he plays (Platoon, WhatÂ’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Edward Sissorhands, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Choclat, Pirates of the Caribbean, Charlie and the Choclate Factory) there nothing common when it comes to looks and persona.

He never repeats himself. Look at his real life pictures.

He is to be Gregory David Roberts in Shantaram, that is going to be something.

“I think we’ve all arrived at a very special place. Spiritually, ecumenically, grammatically.”

I guess your parents didnÂ’t allow you guys to watch movies.

In fact, when Amitabh came on the scene…he was very different in demeanor than the “brown boys” of the days (Rajesh Khanna, Shashi Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor). It was 70s; the Indian society was hungry for Desi version of James Dean.

However, the crux is “star power”, baby “star power” The living example is Salma Hayek who even has a very distinct accent. The ones who survive have “mojo”.

Let me just concentrate on sheer malleability of Robert DeNiroÂ…he gains lot of weight (Jake La Motta in Raging Bull), becomes an thin Italian immigrant (Vito Corleone – GodFather), has a Mohawk (Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver), overweight mobster (Al Capone-The Untouchables), a severely challenged patient (Leonard Lowe in Awakenings), a tattooed psycho (Max Cady in Cape Fear), Dickensian character (Arthur Lustig in Great Expectations), and Don Lino in Shark Tale.

I can do same thing for Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Sean Penn, Peter Sellers, and many others. They gain weight, they loose weight, they shave their head, they grow facial hair – they keep changing.

These not just some character actors. Â…Â…They are the stars of Hollywood, the Real McCoyÂ’s.

Don’t waste time on their real life persona, concentrate on how talented they are in “acting”

I guess it depends on how the particular person is received. For example, when John Abraham first started appearing in Hindi films, he looked very different indeed from the majority of Indian lead actors (yes I know it’s become fashionable recently for Indian men over there to now grow their hair long and straight, but this wasn’t the case when “Jism” was first released). Shahrukh Khan also looked completely different to his main rivals in the early 90s with regards to what, at the time, was regarded as the “ideal” hero in an industry still looking for the next Amitabh.

Some would also say that Bipasha Bapu doesn’t necessarily fit the stereotype of how a lead Bollywood actress should look, considering she’s much darker than people like Kareena Kapoor, Preity Zinta etc.

shrug These things are fairly unpredictable, I think it’s a matter of an unconventional looking hero/heroine arriving at the “right” time, whatever that may be.

He certainly has his priorities right. Rural Electrification, for instance. Not just to light up the villages. Not just solar lamps and stoves. But to provide 24 x 7 power supply, enable more rural employment, bring about lifestyle changes ( not just poverty allevation) and thereby stop the migration to cities which are choking anyway. He himself heads an Energy Panel. Hope he can get his act together.