Farhan Akhtar ka dil kya chahta hai? "I want to direct my next film (starring Shah Rukh Khan [Images]). But since there's time before I start (on it), I've decided to face the camera!" he exclaims.

The director has agreed to play one of the two leads in debutant director Anand Surapur's The Fakir. "It's a very interesting, down-to-earth, rooted-to-reality script, just my kind of film where I don't have to 'act'� you know what I mean?" he says.

Farhan's wife Adhuna has given him a new haircut for the film. "It's funny how my haircuts have turned me into an anonymous soul. I change my hairstyle so often that people have a hard time recognising me. For The Fakir, I've got my hair cut the way I think the character should look. It's a story about the search for life and how the truth about existence comes to us at the most unexpected junctures of life."

Television anchor and actor Annu Kapoor plays the other lead. Actress Kamal Sidhu also plays a part. "There is no other major character. I like the intimacy of the script, and the director's approach," Farhan says.

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Surapur originally wanted to cast Saif Ali Khan [Images] in Farhan's role. "When Anand came to me, I immediately said yes," Farhan says. "I've known him for a long time."

And how was the experience of facing the camera? "I think I'm doing okay. The director seems to be happy and I don't feel stupid about what I've done so far. I'm truly enjoying the experience. Acting is truly liberating," he says.

Incidentally, Farhan was to make his acting debut in Honeymoon, to be directed by his former assistant Reema. Rituparno Ghosh had also approached Farhan to act in a film.

"But I guess I was destined to be in The Fakir," he concludes.