/> Ever wondered why Rahul Bose hasn't directed a film after the much-lauded debut Everybody Says I'm Fine?

"That's because I've been working hard as an actor. In fact I've four releases lined up for this year."

But now Rahul is all set to direct his second film. "It will again be in English, with a smattering of Urdu. I've acquired the rights of a very big novel after six months of negotiation."

The film won't star Rahul in the lead.

Even as he gets set to wear another cap, Rahul will tap a made-over clothed and demure Mallika Sherawat's brid(e)led instincts in Pyar Ke Side Effects. And now Rahul Bose has quietly slipped into the interiors of Orissa to shoot National award-winning Oriya director Manmohan Mahapatra's first Hindi film Bits & Pieces.

"It's a small –budget film," says Rahul modestly. "And I'm cast with three lovely ladies.I've never worked with Diya Mirza before. She surprised me. With Raima Sen, I recently completed a Bengali film. And as for Nandita Das, we've just done Santosh Sivan's Keral together. All three are very different actresses and therefore fascinating to work with.

As for the 'Side Effects'....Rahul says, "Mallika's comic timing and her dedication took me by surprise. People may look on us as an odd couple. But it's finally the oddness that's going to work in the film's favour."

He describes Bits & Pieces as a very simple film where he plays "a well-known writer.".

"Get ready for a grand-slam from Rahul Bose," Rahul jokes. "I've four very different films lined up. First there's Saket Choudhary's Pyar Ke Side Effects, followed by Buddhadeb Das Gupta's Kaal Purush, Santosh Sivan's Keral and Rajeev Virani's The Whisperers. Believe me if you can find four other films as different from each other as this then I'll be your slave for life."