I'm SRK of Telugu films: Siddarth

Southern star Siddharth, who plans to turn producer next year, says he is the "Shah Rukh Khan" of the Telugu film industry and that romance will always be his forte even though he is popular for his intense roles in Hindi movies like "Rang De Basanti".

"I do a lot of romantic roles in Telugu films. In fact when people say you are the Aamir Khan of Telugu films, I say I am the Shah Rukh Khan of the film industry. I do all the 'Tujhe dekha toh ye jaana sanam' type of sequences in Telugu," said Siddharth.

"I do romantic movies as my mainstay and when I want to change my mood, I do a 'Striker' or a 'Rang De Basanti'. Now that I have done a serious film like 'Striker', I need to go back to my strengths and do a romantic film," said Siddharth, who has done Telugu films like "Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana" and "Bommarillu".

At the same time, the actor, who played the intense Karan Singhania in "Rang De Basanti" and a Mumbai-based carrom player in crime thriller "Striker", stressed that doing romantic roles is not a cakewalk.

"I find romantic films, which are on a lighter vein in Telugu, as challenging as serious dramatic films in Hindi - both are equally tough. The important thing is that you have to find a nice script and I think 'Striker' was one of the nicest scripts I have read in my career because I found it a very realistic film.

"My next Hindi film would be a more light-hearted one. I wanted to do a light-hearted one for now because when you do a serious role, you need to come out of it. I want to give as much time as I can to Hindi," he said.

Siddharth made his debut in Bollywood with "Rang De Basanti" in 2006. He took a four-year break before his second release "Striker" but now plans to do more Hindi films.

"At this time, I am shooting for two Telugu films simultaneously so that I can have a year to do Hindi films," said the 30-year-old.

The actor is currently busy with a Rs.300 million fantasy adventure film in Telugu and a village comedy.

He also has his plans set for launching his own production house in 2011.

"I am starting my own production next year. India is becoming a great country to make small, independent films that are content driven, just like 'Striker'. These films need to be made because these big studio films with the routine 'naach gaana' (song and dance) and foreign locations will always be made because they are fun. But it's important to make realistic cinema as well.

"I want to get into production very soon. We are going to make an announcement in a couple of months. We have got our funding," he said.

Shiv Sena protests outside Shah Rukh’s residence

Intensifying its protest against actor Shah Rukh Khan for supporting the cause of Pakistani cricketers in the Indian Premier League (IPL) fiasco, the Shiv Sena on Sunday held a demonstration outside his home here, even as the actor and his colleague Aamir Khan were dubbed by the party as “2 Idiots.” 

“Shah Rukh should go to Pakistan if he wants to speak in favour of Pakistani players,” said Shiv Sena leader and MLC Anil Parab, who led the party activists in protesting at ‘Mannat,’ Mr. Khan’s home in suburban Bandra. The police stepped up security ahead of the protests.

The Sainiks displayed a ‘ticket’ from Mumbai to Pakistan and demanded a ban on the actor’s upcoming movie My Name is Khan.

Supporting the protest, senior party leader Manohar Joshi said: “This is the issue of patriotism and Shah Rukh should not interfere in politics…He has been staying in Mumbai for years but has never spoken anything for Marathi.”

The protests came after suspected Shiv Sena activists went on the rampage on Friday tearing down posters of Mr. Khan in Thane district over his remarks that Pakistani cricketers should not have been ignored for the third edition of the IPL tournament.

After targeting him, the party also dragged in Aamir Khan, calling the duo “2 Idiots.”

“In real life, Aamir and Shah Rukh have been proved as ‘2 Idiots,’ as both are making stupid statements supporting the cause of Pakistani cricketers,” said a statement in the Sena’s Hindi mouthpiece Dopahar Ka Saamna.

Joint Police Commissioner (Law and Order) Himanshu Roy said several policemen have been deployed outside the actor’s bungalow to avoid any untoward incident after the police received information that Shiv Sena activists would hold protests there. Those violating the law would be dealt with severely, he said.

Mr. Khan had not asked for any security at his residence, Additional Police Commissioner Amitabh Gupta said.

The Sena statement in Dopahar Ka Saamna said: “On the one hand, while SRK is openly displaying his love for Pakistani players, Aamir has even put nationalistic sentiments in his utterances on this issue…According to Aamir, if any cricketer is good, he would like to have him in his team, it makes no difference to him, which country he belongs to.”