Apurva Asrani teams up with Manoj Bajpayee for his directorial debut

National Film Award-winning editor and screenwriter Apurva Asrani is set to add a new feather to his cap. After spending more than two decades working in the Hindi film industry as an editor and screenwriter, he has now announced his debut film as a director.

Asrani has roped in his favourite actor Manoj Bajpayee for his directorial debut. He has previously worked with the actor par excellence on such acclaimed projects like Satya (1998) and Aligarh (2016).

“Pleased to announce my solo directional debut, co-produced by and starring my Satya and Aligarh star, Manoj Bajpayee. Our script traces the emotional journey of a forgotten genius who is slowly losing his mind. Since awareness & support for mental health issues is sharply lacking in India, we chose the Mental Health Awareness month to make this announcement,” wrote Apurva on his Facebook wall.

Talking further about the project, he told an Indian daily, “Manoj and I have been wanting to collaborate for many years. And having done Satya and Aligarh together, we knew that the film that I would direct for him would have to be really special. So when he sprung this idea to me, I jumped at it and wrote this story. It is emotional. It tackles fame and anonymity. It talks about how India is still not prepared to deal with mental health issues.”

The project is still untitled.