Known for his staid screen creations, Shyam Benegal is now all set to move into the genre of comedy films. The Dada Sahib Phalke award-winner made the decision recently and will start shooting for the film titled "Mahadev" from early September.

The satiric comedy will feature Bhojpuri superstar Ravi Kishen, for the first time in a big role in Hindi cinema. The other leads in the Chetan Motiwala production will be Shreyas Talpade and Amrita Rao.

The veteran director will start work on another Chetan Motiwala production by October, 2008. While the music and lyrics will be by A. R. Rahman and Javed Akhtar, respectively, the movie's star cast has not been decided yet.

The buzz is that the story, penned by Shama Zaidi, revolves around the character of a gypsy girl and is inspired by Spanish Opera Carmen.

Interestingly, before debuting in filmdom with "Gher Betha Ganga" in 1962, Benegal was in the advertisement industry and had made more than 900 advertisements. Fame knocked on his doors with his 1973 film "Ankur".

Benegal is the man who introduced some of the most illustrious names of Hindi cinema like Smita Patil, Om Puri, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Amrish Puri, Shabana Azmi and Naseerudin Shah. "Nishant", "Manthan", "Junoon", "Kalyug" and "Bhumika" are a few of his films which have left a mark on Hindi cinema.

"Yatra" and "Bharat Ek Khoj" are two most extraordinary productions that he gifted to the television audience.

Over the years, Benegal was honoured with many national and international awards like Padma Bhusan, Padma Sri, Indira Gandhi Award, Golden Berlin Bear and Golden St. George for his filming excellence.

Given the film-maker's foresight and expertise, film buffs can await a side-splitting offering from Benegal at the box-office in a few months from now. -Arindam Guha