M'wood's Hollywood connection

Actor Atul Kulkarni is eagerly looking forward to the Hollywood film Singularity. Atul, who plays the character of Raoji, says: ���������It was an excellent experience shooting for Singularity.
The film has turned out well.��������� How did the role come about? ���������The unit was casting for the film in India. Roland (Joffe, the director) had seen some of my films.We met a couple of times and then he finalised me for the part,��������� Atul says.
Singularity is the story of a marine archaeologist who is in a Boston Hospital. While he is in coma, the film takes the viewer back in time to Pune in 1778 when the East India Company invaded palaces. The young captain named James Stewart (Josh Hartnett) falls deeply in love with a Maratha warrior Tulaja Naik (Bipasha Basu) while on his dangerous mission. Atul���������s parts were shot in Australia and he was not a part of the schedule in India. He says, ���������I didn���������t do the film because of the Hollywood connection. I liked the script and my role is a prominent character. There was good scope for me as a performer.���������
The definitions of professionalism and work culture are very different abroad, adds the actor. ���������There is a standard operation procedure and everyone adheres to it. People come to the sets on time and leave the sets on time too,��������� he says. The film also stars Abhay Deol, Milind Gunaji, Vijay Thombre and Nisha Sharma in important roles. Ask Atul about working with Josh and he quips, ���������Josh is an extremely professional actor and a wonderful co-star.���������
On the home front, Atul has been missing in action from Marathi films since his critically acclaimed Natarang released in 2010. The latest buzz is that the actor will star opposite Sagarika Ghatge of Chak De! India fame in Satish Rajwade���������s next venture, Prema Chi Goshta. What made him stay away from M-Town for so long? ���������It was never like I was doing a Marathi film every year and then suddenly took a break. I work in four languages and I have always been selective about my roles in all the languages. For me, the script matters more than the language,��������� says Atul.
Another M-town actor Milind Gunaji, who is also a part of the film, says, ���������I play a very small role in the film, that of a Maratha warrior Shiva. Five years ago, Roland Joffe had come to India with his team to look for locations in Maharashtra. He was referred to me as I was doing a travel show at that time,��������� says Milind. The team was surprised to see people asking Milind for autographs. ���������That���������s when I told them that I was an actor. Roland told me he would cast me in the film though my role was decided much later.��������� Singularity is based on writer Ajay Zankar���������s Marathi novel Drohaparva, which is set in the backdrop of the Anglo-Maratha war when Peshwa Raghunathrao had betrayed the Maratha empire. Milind further adds, ���������A lot has changed about the film with time. The work on the film began in the 1990s. It was five years back that the project took off effectively. It was originally named The Invaders and was to feature Hollywood actor Brendan Fraser, Aishwarya Rai and Vivek Oberoi.���������