'Pehle' Riteish Deshmukh 'phir' John Abraham for award-winning director, Nishikant Kamat

Nishikant Kamat, the award-winning director of Mumbai Meri Jaan, is all set to join hands with his Force hero John Abraham again.

However, John will have to wait, as he  is currently shooting a Marathi film with Riteish Deshmukh in the lead.

Says Nishikant, “I started  a Marathi film Lai Bhaari, which Riteish is producing. He also plays the lead. It’s a fun film in a commercial space, radically different from my first Marathi film Dombivali Fast. Lai Bhaari is a much happier film. Riteish and I have been meeting up for this Marathi project for six months. He wanted to act in a Marathi film but couldn’t find the right project. I wanted to direct a film in Marathi and was waiting for the right script.”

Riteish’s costar in the Marathi film is Radhika Apte. Interestingly,

Nishikant returns to regional cinema at a time when he doesn’t really need to. Says the director, “It doesn’t matter how successful I am as a filmmaker. I’d make a Marathi film whenever I need to reclaim my roots. It’s been eight years since I did one.”

About the John film, he says, “It’s a thriller and not an out-and-out action film like Force. John and I didn’t want to do another action film again. We’ll begin shooting after I complete my Marathi film.”

John will have three female co-stars in Nishikant’s film. “But it’s predominantly a thriller that revolves around John’s character who plays a man seeking redemption.”

Interestingly, Nishikant is not producing this film either. “I leave the production work to my heroes. As of now, I wont be producing any of my films. I just want to direct films.”