Suriya to don commando's role

It would take another three to four months for the shooting to begin. “I am still in the process of getting permission from the Army and selection of locations etc. The spade work is going on,” he said.

Bachchan, who will be playing the role of the father of a hijack victim, will be making his appearance in the second half of the film.

Major Ravi denied that Bachchan's role was only a guest appearance. The story line was narrated to the Big B during his visit to Kerala earlier this month and he liked it and readily gave his nod.

“Resul Pookutty, who won the Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire, is likely to mix the sound for the film. The female lead has not yet been decided,” Ravi said.

Major Ravi, a former commando himself in the Indian Army, who led the mission to capture the suspects in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case in Bangalore, has made three films with military background.

Kurukshetra, on the Kargil war, had Mohanlal essaying the role of Colonel Mahadevan; Keertichakra was based on Kashmir militancy  and Mission 90 days, with Mammootty in the lead role, was based on his experiences in the Rajiv Gandhi assasination case.

Asked about the budget of the new film, which is being made in three languages — Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi and with a big star cast, Major Ravi said he was confident of completing the film within Rs 10-12 crore.

Suriya, son of veteran Tamil actor Sivakumar, had made his debut in Tamil film Nerrukku Ner in 1997 and has emerged one of the successful young stars. Among his hit films are Kakka Kakka, Pitha Magan and Ghajini.