Shabana Azmi wants to star in Neeraj Ghaywan's next

Mumbai: Bollywood filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan says veteran actress Shabana Azmi has expressed her desire to work with him after watching his debut film "Masaan". Neeraj's film "Masaan", starring Richa Chadha, Sanjay Mishra, Shweta Tripathi and Vicky Kaushal, has been getting good response both from the audience and film fraternity.

"Lot of people have come out and said good things about the film. We were doing screenings at light box, everybody would held my hand and say they cannot speak and that was the big compliment," Neeraj told PTI.

"Shabanaji (Shabana Azmi) said if I don't cast her in my next film she will protest outside my house, Javed sir (Javed Akhtar) said he liked it too much. "Deepika (Padukone) was so ecstatic about the film, Parineeti (Chopra) was crying so I did not expect this kind of response. Aamir Khan called me and said it was a great film that really feels great," he said.

Considering his maiden film has done well Neeraj does think there is a sense of pressure while making his next.

"Expectations are there and it does get difficult. But it also opens doors. There is believability factor that people will say I have made a good film so producers will back my film," he added.

But Neeraj is yet to think about his next project. "I will take break. I want to undo 'Masaan' from my head," he adds.

The screenwriters programme had helped Neeraj make his first film. He was last week present at the Mumbai Mantra - CineRise screenwriting programme, that encourages budding writers.

"It feels very great felt like coming back. It is so surreal. Last year I came here (at the programme), we spoke about our film... We made it, released it, went to Cannes won awards. We have travelled a lot," Neeraj, who had previously assisted Anurag Kashyap on "Gangs Of Wasseypur", said.

"This year strong script backed films have done well at the box office, 'Piku', 'Badlapur' are a testimony," he said.