CHENNAI TIME ARTICLE 23-7-10

‘DIYA’S FOND OF DEV’

… reveals actor Suriya,,who is celebrating his birthday today,, about his bundle of joy and the 
new addition to the family

Srinivasa Ramanujam | TNN 

    He might be the King when it comes to Kollywood currently, but at home, the real king is the new addition to the family. At the Suriya household, the cynosure of all eyes is the baby boy. And fittingly, he’s been named Dev, which means ‘a divine being’. Needless to say, actor Suriya — who is celebrating his birthday — is thrilled the way things have been shaping up in the past few months, both professionally and personally. Says an excited Suriya, “We’ve named the little boy Dev, especially because Jo liked it. Actually, we thought a lot and discussed several names but Jo cast her vote for Dev,” reveals the actor, who is basking in the success of his Singam. So, how has his daughter — Diya — taken to new addition to the family? “She’s fond of him. Before she goes to school, she’s always helping out with changing nappies and all that. She sometimes insists that she does it herself. And, she’s totally at it when it comes to colour choices and all that! Diya doesn’t seem to have any first child insecurity.” Is he consciously trying to spend more time with the children? “Well, I’m trying to. But most of the time, it’s only Jo.” On the films front, Suriya is busy with director Murugadoss’ 7am Arivu. “It’s a big travel, this film,” he states, “It’s not a regular hero-heroine-villain story. We’re putting in a lot of effort in it in terms of research. It’s bound to be exciting for the audience.” Going by the success of this combination’s previous film Ghajini, expectations from 7am Arivu are quite high. The actor’s lead actress in this film is Shruti Haasan, the daughter of Kamal Haasan, an actor who Suriya admires and respects. So, how’s his new lead actress to work with? “Shruti takes her work very seriously; she’s charged about this project. She knows the craft well and because she’s done a film before, knows how things work. Shruti is a very talented singer too.” Adds Suriya, “She’s glued to cinema from other parts of the world. In the schedule that we just completed, she used to enthral us with her knowledge of characters, movies from all over the world. Sometimes, I’d just keep listening to her,” states the actor. The other film he’s looking forward to is RGV’s Raktha Charithra. His part in the film is complete and dubbing is on for the film. “I was happy to receive a message from Abhisek Bachchan, who saw a few clips from the film that RGV showed him,” says Suriya, “It was very sweet of him.” So, how is he planning to celebrate his birthday? “I’ll mostly be in Coimbatore for the second schedule of 7am Arivu and so, there are no special plans,” he says, “But my fan clubs are organising several activities such as blood and organs donation.”