By Subhash K. Jha, IANS

Ever wondered why Rahul Bose hasn't directed a film after the much-lauded debut "Everybody Says I'm Fine"?

"That's because I've been working hard as an actor. In fact, I've four releases lined up for this year," he replies.

But now Rahul is all set to direct his second film. "It will again be in English, with a smattering of Urdu. I've acquired the rights of a very big novel after six months of negotiation."

The film won't star Rahul in the lead.

"Get ready for a grand slam from Rahul Bose," he jokes. "I've four very different films lined up. First, there's Saket Choudhary's 'Pyar Ke Side Effects', followed by Buddhadeb Dasgupta's 'Kaal Purush', Santosh Sivan's 'Kerala' (in English) and Rajeev Virani's 'The Whisperers'. Believe me, if you can find four other films as different from one another as these, I'll be your slave for life."

And now Rahul has quietly slipped into the interiors of Orissa to shoot National Award winning Oriya director Manmohan Mahapatra's first Hindi film "Bits & Pieces".

"It's a small budget film," says Rahul modestly. "And I'm cast with three lovely ladies. I've never worked with Dia Mirza before. She surprised me. With Raima Sen, I recently completed a Bengali film. And as for Nandita Das, we've just done Santosh Sivan's 'Kerala' together. All three are very different actresses and therefore fascinating to work with."

He describes "Bits & Pieces" as a very simple film where he plays "a well-known writer".

About "Pyar Ke Side Effects" where he stars with a made over, clothed and demure Mallika Sherawat, he says: "Mallika's comic timing and her dedication took me by surprise. People may look on us as an odd couple. But it's finally the oddness that's going to work in the film's favour."