After Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan, Tamil star Surya has given his nod to act in the Malayalam film Kandahar, based on the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight to Afghanistan in 1999, along with Mohanlal.

Surya will don a commando's role in the film, said its Director Major Ravi.

It would take another 3-4 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 in 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 three of his films which have a military background.

Kurukshetra, on the Kargil war, has Mohanlal essaying the role of Colonel Mahadevan, Keertichakra is based on Kashmir militancy also with Mohanlal and 'Mission 90 days' with Mammootty in the lead role was based on his experience in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination 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.

Surya, son of veteran Tamil actor Sivakumar, had made his debut in Tamil film Nerrukku Ner in 1997 and has emerged one of the succesful young stars.

Among his hit films are Kakka Kakka, Pitha Magan and Ghajini.

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