Shabana Azmi’s brother to direct Farhan Akhtar

MUMBAI - Actor-director-producer Farhan Akhtar says he will act in Baba Azmi’s directorial debut after completing his sister Zoya’s “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara”.

“After Zoya’s film ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’, where I play one of the leads, releases I am starting another film as an actor to be directed by Baba Azmi. It’s a very different kind of character from what I’ve played so far. We start in July 2011,” said Farhan.

Moviemaking is in the family, and what a family! While Farhan’s dad Javed needs no introduction, the rest of his family including mom Honey and sister Zoya are also filmmakers. And of course Farhan’s step-mom Shabana, who is an very integral part of the Akhtar clan, is also a name to reckon with in acting.

An accomplished choreographer, Baba is Shabana’s brother and is known for his work in movies like “Tezaab” and “Mr India”.

Shedding more light on his directorial debut, Baba said: The entire family has been egging me on to direct. I guess everything happens in its own time. Yes, I am directing a film that will star Farhan. His production house (Excel Entertainment) will produce the film.”

Prod him for more information on his directorial venture, and Baba said: Its a love story. I wont be doing the cinematography, though. Handling both the camera and direction would be too much for me.

Baba has chosen Ananyaka Bose to do the cinematography for his directorial debut.

Ive seen Ananyas work in ‘Kites’, ‘Jhoom Baraabar Jhoom’ and ‘I Hate Luv Storys’. He lights up the screen and makes the actors look very glamorous. I think its very important for the actors to look good on screen.

Curiously, the inhouse scripting maestro Javed has not written Babas directorial debut. A friend of Baba, Jagdish Acharya has penned the movie.

And no, neither Babas super-talented sister Shabana nor his actress wife Tanvi Aazmi have roles in his directorial debut.

Shabana and Tanvi are such talented actors. I cant just cast them in any role. My film has no part to justify their presence, said Baba.

The hunt is on for a leading lady for Farhan in the film.