Saif in Motwane's next

After a tumultuous 2014, Saif Ali Khan has been in a phase of deep introspection. After evaluating his strengths and weaknesses, the nawab is treading cautiously now that he's on the wrong side of 40. Mirror has learnt that the actor has just green-lit a project to be directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, who has previously made two critically-acclaimed films, Udaan and Lootera. A source close to the development revealed that the film is a "crazy-thriller with oodles of high-octane stunts and deadpan humour", unlike anything Motwane has made before. Saif, excited by the subject, has given his verbal consent and is figuring out his dates.

The film should roll towards the end of the year. Before that, Saif will start shooting for another thriller, Sujoy Ghosh's adaptation of the Japanese novel, The Devotion of Suspect X. It co-stars Kangna Ranaut, whose character along with her daughter, is on the run following the murder of her husband, with cop Nawazuddin Siddiqui giving chase. Meanwhile Vishal Bhardwaj's next, with Saif and Shahid Kapoor, rolls this winter. Motwane was earlier supposed to kick-start a vigilante drama, Bhavesh Joshi, with Sidharth Malhotra in the lead. He admitted to Mirror that the theme was no longer topical. "It was written when the last government was in power and corruption was rampant.

There was a lot that was wrong with the city... the country... and this was affecting everyone. I'll make it someday, it's a relevant subject, and I'm passionate about it," he'd asserted. With Bhavesh Joshi on the backburner, Motwane has spent the past few months fine-tuning the script with Saif who has not been on a movie set in the last six months. "He wants to be convinced that it's a role that suits his age and personality, before he goes ahead with it. Motwane and Vishal's film, along with Sameer Sharma's Jugalbandi are all he has on his plate for now," added the source.