The cinematographer has been wanting the filmmaker-turned-actor to produce as well as star in his ambitious project Man Bawra

For two years, Shabana Azmi's brother and cinematographer, Baba Azmi's pet project Man Bawra has been waiting to see the light of day. Farhan Akhtar's Excel Entertainment was to produce the film but the production house has been unable to do so given the filmmaker-turned-actor's busy schedule.

"Ghar ki baat hai, but it is a sensitive matter. Baba not only wanted Farhan to produce Man Bawra, but also to play the lead. Farhan, unfortunately, couldn't accommodate Baba's film into his schedule.

He first got busy with acting in his sister Zoya's Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and directing Don 2 and then chose to act in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, " says a source. When contacted Azmi said, "The film will be made when it has to be."

However, the cinematographer's 21-minute short film Conesty won the best short film award at the Nashik International Film Festival held recently. The movie is a dialogue between a kidnapper (Shakir Khan) and his victim (Omi).

"There's no word like Conesty. But I thought it described the whole cult of conning comprehensively. It's a story of trust and betrayal. When Vishal Vijay Kumar, who wrote the film Thanks, Maa, came to me with the script I was impressed and decided to shoot it, " says Azmi.

Interestingly, like most cinematographers turned director, Baba chose not to do the cinematography of Conesty. "To handle both direction and cinematography would have been a bit too much, " he says.