For the past 27 years, Arshad Warsi may have been strictly in front of the camera. But his journey in the movies has made him intimately familiar with the different aspects of filmmaking. After all, Warsi had started out as an assistant director to Mahesh Bhatt on Kaash (1987), even choreographing a song in Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja (1993) before turning to acting. Now, the actor feels ready to start the next chapter—he has written two scripts and is set to turn director with them.

Direction feels like a natural progression to Warsi. “[The hope of] directing a film has been in my heart from day one. Even when I am on the set as an actor, I am quietly directing a film, in my head,” he shares.

It’s time for the director in him to set foot on a movie set. His two scripts are nearly ready. So, is he attempting comedy—a genre that the actor is known for? Not quite, says Warsi, revealing that one of his scripts is a “sweet romantic comedy.”

“The other is a quirky, edgy action-thriller-comedy along the lines of Guy Ritchie movies or The Bourne Identity franchise. I would like to direct both.”

However, he is firm that he won’t act in either. “I cannot handle both jobs. I’d like to come on the set comfortably in my slippers and T-shirt, and only focus on my direction. Also, the movies that I have written require a large scale and big budget. As an actor, I cannot [raise] that kind of money,” he says, adding that it will be a while before he takes his place behind the camera.