The year 2008 could well be actor Arshad Warsi's year. He has signed plum films with filmmakers like Anil Kapoor and Rohit Shetty and has just inked a deal with Rakesh Roshan in which he plays a mad man.

"For the first time I get to play this completely deranged character - a full-on mad man. I've never played a character like this. Why just me? I don't think such a character has been done before," Arshad told IANS.

This would be Rakesh's first film without his son Hrithik in the last seven years. "In fact, Rakeshji has been with this script for more than 10 years," Arshad says.

Too busy and committed to Ashutosh Gowariker's "Jodhaa-Akbar" and his father's next superhero film, Hrithik has given this assignment the go-by. It's being directed by Rakesh Roshan's assistant Raja Sen.

This is Roshan's first confident move forward in expanding and corporatising his production house into a multi-filmmaking concern like Yash Raj Films. He intends to concentrate on the projects that would star his son Hrithik and hire other directors for other ventures.

Karan Johar also plans to direct one film a year for his own production house and open it to directors from outside.

--- IANS