...from Bollywood as he takes his latest play across US cities next week

Paresh Rawal is taking a break from Bollywood to concentrate on his other passion: theatre. The character actor is off to the US to stage his new Hindi production Krishnan v/s Kanhaiya starting next week and will return to Mumbai only in October.

"I have wrapped up my shooting commitments. In fact, I had kept myself away from movie shoots even when I started rehearsing, " says Rawal who will next be seen in Priyadarshan's Aakrosh.

The drama is about an atheist's battle with God. It is an adaptation of the Gujarati comedy Kanjee Virrudh Kanjee, directed by Umesh Shukla who will also direct the Hindi version. Apart from Rawal, the cast includes Dharmendra Gohil and Chirag Vora.

Their first show is in New York on August 21. The troupe will later move on to Georgia, California and Pennsylvania apart from other US cities.

Rawal had staged two comic capers Shaadi@Barbaadi.com and Naughty@Forty over five years ago in various parts of the US and other countries.

"I am producing and acting in a play after a long gap. Theatre needs a lot of time. I can do justice to it only when I am not shooting for any film. This is why I am taking time off to focus only on theatre, " he adds. "I will start afresh in Bollywood after I am back."