Shiv Pandit makes Tamil debut

After making his big-screen debut with Bejoy Nambiar’s Shaitan,model-turned actor Shiv Pandit will now be seen as the hero in a Tamil film,Leelai,which will hit the screens in August. Produced by V. Ravichandran of Aascar Films,the movie is directed by Andrew Vasanth Louis and stars television actress Manasi Parekh as the female lead.

Shiv recounts that he was quite surprised to bag this film as usually Mumbai girls get offers from the South film industry. “It is generally very difficult for outsiders to make a name in the South Indian film industry. So I am thankful to the producer for selecting me to play the solo hero in Leelai,” says the actor from New Delhi who practised his Tamil dialogues by reading them repeatedly and understanding the emotions and punches. He also watched a lot of Tamil films and other serials in the language to get attuned to the culture. It,of course,took him five months to master the language.

Leelai,which was launched in 2008 and has been ready since 2009,is a romantic comedy that Shiv plays a compulsive flirt who finally finds true love.

The actor,who was earlier seen in ads like Airtel,Colgate,Tide etc,mentions that he is grateful to Andrew’s aunt since she was the one who recommended him to the filmmaker after seeing his Airtel ad. “I am yet to meet her,” says the actor,who is thrilled by the fact that this year he has two releases,Shaitan and Leelai,in two different languages. However,the language doesn’t matter as long as he gets to showcase his acting prowess.