Sathyaraj recently turned up as Jesus Christ, MGR, Ratha Kaneer M R Radha (all of his heroes) in his recent release Maha Nadigan.

But there is yet another hero for Sathyaraj. A self-confessed rationalist, he has always liked Periyar, the maverick leader who was father of the Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu.

Sathyaraj in fact takes pride in telling every one that he has read almost all of Periyar's works.

So when he is going to play Periyar in a movie, Sathyaraj can only be happy.

And he is.

Quite unlike Maha Nadigan, it will not be a just fancy dress show of sorts. Sathyaraj will act the lead role in the movie Periyar. The movie is to be directed by Gnana Rajasekaran, who directed Bharathy with Shayaji Shinde and Moga Mul (Ki Janakiraman's novel).

It is surely an acid test for Sathyaraj.