by Subhash K Jha

He's known as the sharp-tongued funny-man on television. But now Sajid Khan has assigned another role for himself.

Like his sister Farah (Main Hoon Na) and brother-in-law Shrish Kunder (Jaan-e-Mann ) Sajid Khan has turned director with Hey Baby that stars Akshay Kumar, Fardeen Khan, Sajid's buddy Riteish Deshmukh and the quickly-on-the-rise Vidya Balan.

The film is produced by family friend Sajid Nadiadwala who's also produced Shirish Kunder's Jaan-e-Man.

"Why do you say only Riteish in my film's cast is my buddy?" Sajid starts off defensively. "I'm very friendly with all the stars. I've never encountered any star-ego ever. Even on television as an anchor I may be sharp-tongued with them. But they know it's all in fun."

But when did Sajid find the time to make a film? "Why not? I am not a tv actor. I'm an anchor. I don't work on television round the clock. I've enough time to do what I want. And yes, directing a film is what seems like the right thing to do right now. I hope I've made a good film.

And before you ask, a good film is one that I'd see three years from now and not cringe. I can't say I wanted to make a film my kids would be proud of, since I don't think I'll have any. But I want to look at it and say, 'F..k what a film!' "

Interestingly Sajid has already directed a portion of Ram Gopal Varma's segmented horror flick Darna Zaroori Hai. "That was just one-sixth of the film."

Some years ago Sajid had faced the camera for Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Jhooth Bole Kauva Kaate. He hasn't cast himself in his directorial venture.

When I tell him his directorial venture is bound to surprise audiences and bound to have the critics sharpening their claws, Sajid replies, "I'm aware that I'd be scrutinized carefully.But I don't care, as long as I know I made a good film. A good film never fails. Though the inverse isn't true. Bad films do work sometimes."

One thing is for sure. Going by his track record on television Sajid Khan can never make a boring film.