The Shankar directed Rajni starrer Sivaji continues to make news, although Shankar prefers to keep everything about it a secret. It was an open secret that there is a role parallel to Rajni's and as important as his. It was also said that this character was completely negative, that of the villain.

The first rumour was that Aishwarya would do the female lead. The role then went to Rani Mukherji! Many more names were discussed until it was announced that young Shriya would be Rajni's heroine.

Similarly, it was first rumoured that Amitabh Bachchan would do the villain's role. Then came the news that they were considering Mohanlal. He told rediff.com that he was indeed approached and that the role was quite interesting, but that they wanted bulk dates that didn't suit him at all. It was then Nana Patekar's name that did the rounds, followed by Prakash Raj's. Now, the filmmakers have finally confirmed the actor who is to play the villain -- Telugu star Suman.

46-year old Suman Talwar is an English graduate from Pachaiyappa's College, Chennai, and has been in the industry for the last 25 years. He has acted in more than 150 films. Other than his mother tongue Tulu, he speaks English, Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi and Tamil. He is a black belt in karate and also an expert in Kalari payattu, the traditional martial art from from Kerala. His debut film was Neechal Kulam in Tamil. In 2004, he campaigned for the BJP.

His most famous recent Telugu movie was Annamayya, where he played Lord Venkateswara. He is also playing Lord Rama in Sri Ramadasu.