NHS radiologist in Bollywood movie

A Bollywood film featuring an NHS radiologist will premiere in London this weekend.

Dr Mahesh Kumar appears as a villain in the Bollywood thriller Accident.

He took annual leave from his day job as clinical director of radiology for Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs four hospitals in north Manchester, to make the film.

Dr Kumar said: "Some of my friends are involved in mainstream film production, and they just said that the role would suit me, so did I want to do it? I couldn't resist it."

As a medical student in India he appeared in stage and television shows.

Accident, by director Ramesh Aravind, is his first screen role since moving to the UK more than ten years ago.

The film tells the tale of how a DJ becomes suspicious about the death of his girlfriend in an alleged accident, and begins to piece together the jigsaw of evidence leading to the truth.

Dr Kumar, whose acting name is Mahesh Longa, plays a gang leader involved in piracy.

He said: "I used my annual leave to film in Bangalore for 20 days at the end of last year and this included acting and voice dubbing.

"I had a great time playing this villain, who leads a gang involved in CD/DVD piracy.

"I'm not giving up my professional role just yet. Nothing would take me away from my clinical work but this was a great thing to do. It's only a small role but I had a fantastic time.

"I've always been interested in creative art since stage plays at school. Acting gives me a real buzz and encourages me to think laterally. Everyone should have a hobby to break the stress of monotony.

"It's really exciting to see the film get released here in the UK, and we're obviously hoping that more dates will be added to its run."

The film will also be shown at Bolton's Cineworld Valley on July 12 for three days.

It will be released in America later this month.

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