A Tamil Nadu-born police officer acts in Bhojpuri film

Patna, May 3 (IANS) A top Bihar Police officer, who is a Tamilian by birth, has fulfilled his acting dream. He debuts as a boatman with Bhojpuri film "Devra Pe Manwa Dole" which is set for release May 10.

"I am happy to be an actor in a Bhojpuri movie. It was my dream to act in a movie and I have fulfilled it. I play a common fisherman in Bihar," said Raveendran Sankaran, 43, an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of 1995 batch, who was born in Coimbatore.

Sankaran, currently deputy inspector general (DIG) of police (Human Rights), said he had never dreamt of working in a Bhojpuri movie.

"When I landed in Bihar about 17 years ago, it was not easy for me to speak in Hindi, not to talk about Bhojpuri. But now I've got a break in a Bhojpuri movie, lady luck was smiling on me," he said adding that he took permission from the concerned department to act in the movie.

In the film, Sankaran, who is still not fluent in Hindi, plays Hariya, a rustic fisherman. He will be seen wearing a short, sleeveless vest, dhoti, anklet and a turban.

Sankaran, a tall guy with his trademark moustache, said he could not turn down the offer when producer Ashok Kumar Krit approached him in February 2012.

"I was upbeat and agreed to work," he told IANS.

Before becoming an IPS officer, Sankaran, a film enthusiast, had enrolled himself in a Chennai-based film institute in 1989. A post graduate in management, he later cleared his Civil Services Examination.

"I was allotted Bihar cadre. When I joined here, initially I had to face a lot of problems as I didn't know Hindi. My seniors helped me a lot in learning the language," he added.

His wife Malar Vizi, also an IPS officer posted as DIG (Homeguards and Fire Brigade), told IANS that she and her two daughters are eagerly waiting to watch the movie first-day-first-show here.

"We are excited for the day," she said with a big smile on her face.

Sankaran is the second Bihar-cadre IPS officer to act in a Bhojpuri film.

Earlier, 1988-batch officer Arvind Pandey, who is at present posted as IG (Weaker Sections) in the Criminal Investigation Department, had acted in a Ajay Devgn-starrer Bhojpuri film.