In his career of over two decades, Arshad Warsi has played all sorts of characters — serious roles like the ones in Jolly LLB and Sehar, and comical parts in the much popular Golmaal and Munnabhai franchises.

In his upcoming film titled Jeevan Bheema Yojana, BT has it exclusively that Arshad not only plays the central character, but also features in a double role. The film, which is a quirky crime comedy, helmed by Abhishek Dogra (who previously directed Dolly Ki Doli), went on floors a few days ago in Mumbai and will be shot at different locations in the city.

Arshad will be seen playing two diametrically different people, Jeevan and Bheema, who look the same. While one belongs to the world of white-collared professionals, the other is seeded in the world of crime. The film revolves around what happens when their paths cross.

Talking about it, Arshad told BT, “What excited me was the script, which was insanely funny. I was cracking up every now and then during the narration. And the cherry on cake was the double role. The director has his vision and I am following that. I am playing two individuals who look the same, but are completely different personalities. The script has a good balance of humour and drama.”

Arshad adds, “As an actor, I follow what the character’s journey is and the vision that the director has for it. As for the prep, the mind is a very powerful tool. Like I was Ajay Kumar in Sehar and Circuit in Munnabhai— now imagine them in one film! It’s that simple. It has been about 10 days since we went on floors, and we’ve been having a lot of fun. Sanjeeda Sheikh, Pooja Chopra, Bijendra Kala and Vijay Raaz are my co-stars and you can’t imagine the kind of fun we have off camera. Improvisation to apne aap ho jaati hai.”

Director Abhishek Dogra adds, “Jeevan Bheema Yojana has a lot of humour packed in with some drama. Arshad is one actor who can look innocent and cunning at the same time, he’s really underrated and I have been an admirer of his work. It’s his firstever double role, with two contrasting characters. As a director when you have actors like Arshad and Vijay Raaz in the film, it makes your work easy. Their timing is impeccable.”