Neeraj Pandey, whose repertoire boasts of thrillers like A Wednesday, Special 26 and Baby, has been in the news of late for his sports biopic, M S Dhoni - The Untold Story, and Airlift, a true-to life evacuation drama. Now, Mirror has learnt that the filmmaker is keen to switch genres and move from chills to thrills. In partnership with Shital Bhatia, Neeraj will be releasing three horror films every year, for the next three years under his venture, Friday Fearworks. The first production is Missing. Featuring Manoj Bajpayee and Tabu, the psychological horror is co-produced by Vikram Malhotra. Manoj also makes his debut as a producer with it.

Confirming this, Neeraj says, “The horror genre is one of the most underexplored and under-exploited genres in India.“ And Shital adds, “Missing is our first attempt in this direction and we have pushed the envelope by adding a third wheel to the love story - ­ Annu Kapoor.“ Annu, who was seen as Nawab Mehmood Shah in Dharam Sankat Mein, which released earlier this year, plays a police officer in a story which unfolds in a resort.

The film reunites Tabu and Manoj on screen, 14 years after Ghaath and Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar!!. It has been shot in Mauritius and Mumbai over 28 days. It began in March and wrapped up last week.

Talking about Manoj, Neeraj says that the actor has contributed creatively to the project. “He had been actively plotting storylines with us and his validation has become an important part of our post-production process,“ he informs. The film marks the directorial debut of Mukul Abhyankar. “I am looking at a platform for younger, inexperienced talents. I too will be directing a film under this banner but I have not found a great horror story yet,“ Neeraj admits.

Is he planning to go the Vikram Bhatt way and release horror flicks in 3D too? “Missing will not be in the 3D format but depending on the content of the next film, we will plan accordingly,“ he says, adding that while he is targeting three films annually, he is closely monitoring every script that comes his way.