Tamil superstar Kamal Haasan is to act in a Kannada remake of his Tamil hit "Sathi Leelavathi".

Shooting for the film, tentatively called "Stree Samanya", begins this week.

"It's a comedy. 'Sathi Leelavathi' was made into Hindi as 'Biwi No.1'. Apparently comedies are very big in Karnataka right now," says Kamal Hassan.

"I play the same role that I did in the original. My very good friend Ramesh Arvind who recently made his Hindi acting debut in 'Mumbai Xpress' is directing the film."

"It's my first since 'Pushpak' with Singeetham Srinivasa Rao in 1987. Prior to that I had done 'Benki Alli Aralida Hoovu' in 1983. I'm not as fluent in Kannada as I am in Malayalam. But I manage quite well," says the actor.

Right after the Kannada film he starts his next Tamil film to be directed by Gowtham Menon. "It's a slick cops thriller to be shot partly in Chennai and partly in the US.

"I'm looking at two back-to-back films within the next few months," he says.