Sridevi not in hubby's film

After years into the movie business as one of Bollywood's primary producers, Boney Kapoor is finally taking the plunge as a director. The project is likely to feature a bevy of top notch actors including Salman Khan.

But sorry to disappoint Sridevi's fans, Boney won't be directing his mesmeric wife, at least not in his directorial debut.

Says Boney, "It's too much of a responsibility, too much stress, and to do justice to Sri in my first film as a director would be really tough. We can't separate our personal equation and become professionals on the sets. So no, I'm not directing Sri in my first film."

Boney reveals that he was meant to direct Sridevi in a remake of Chris Columbus' Stepmom some years ago. "I wanted to cast Sri and Kajol as the older and younger women. I had even spoken to Kajol who's a big favourite of mine, about it. But look at the irony of it. Kajol is now playing the older woman and Bebo (Kareena) the younger in Karan Johar's adaptation of Stepmom."

Expressing regret that he missed out on the opportunity earlier, Boney is now all set to rectify the situation.

Says Boney, "It's about time I took the plunge, and I am going to. Not too many people know I was an assistant director with Shakti Samanta on four movies Mehbooba, Anand Ashram, The Great Gambler and (the unreleased) Maha Guru. I guess it was inevitable for me to finally go into direction."

The details for Boney's directorial debut are being worked out. He hopes to clear the decks of his production work before taking the plunge early next year.