TOM HANKS ON THIS POPULAR INDIAN HERO

Global star Tom Hanks has been touring the world promoting his next release - Ron Howard's Inferno. He will be seen once again essaying the role of the noteworthy symbologist Robert Langdon after The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons - both based on Dan Browns novels (like Inferno).

The film is scheduled to release on Oct 14 in India in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu and then two weeks after in the US and other international markets -  a first for any international film. A lot of this is believed to be attributed to actor Irrfan Khan's association with the film, which apparently the international makers are looking at tapping into for the film's strong India reach and thus success.

In a recent interaction, Hanks was asked about his Indian co-star Irrfan Khan and if he had any preconceived notions about Bollywood. The legend was humble and quick to respond saying, "I heard that Irrfan Khan is the most popular actor in all of India. Bollywood has emerged into a very modern and vibrant film society. I must say, when I was told that Irrfan is going to be in this movie, I felt like it was working with the Indian version of Sir Laurence Olivier or Sean Connery or somebody who is a giant in his culture. So, we as actors had more in common because of that than the differences."