Ang Lee

Suraj Sharma, whose brilliant performance of Piscine Molitor Patel (Pi Patel) is one of the factors among several others to get his debut film <em>Life of Pi</em>, directed by Ang Lee all round appreciation has been nominated for the BAFTA Rising Star Award this year. Suraj joins the likes of British actresses Juno Temple, Andrea Riseborough, Elizabeth Olsen and Alicia Vikander who are also in the running for the award recognising new talent in the film industry.

The boy from Delhi who has played the lead in Ang Lee’s adaptation of Yann Martel’s novel <em>The Life Of Pi</em> was 17 when he signed the film. At 19 he now feels like a different person. “My entire life has undergone a change during these last two years. I feel different from inside. I think I’v become a better humanbeing. But I still don’t know whether I can act or not,” says Suraj who feels he is more passionate about filmmaking than acting.

After regaling Mumbai, Ang Lee shifted location to Chennai on Wednesday where Kamal Haasan conducted a 30-minute television with the director. But before that, Ang who was not familiar with Kamal Haasan’s work wanted to see his films. So they drove down to Kamal Haasan’s office where he has a fully equipped home theatre.

Scheduled to release on 21 November this year (2012), the 3D adventure film Life Of Pi has already created tremendous buzz with its impressive star cast which includes debutante Suraj Sharma along with illustrious Indian names such as Tabu, Irrfan Khan with Hollywood's Tobey Maguire and Gerard Depardieu.