MUMBAI: Film and theatre personality Makrand Deshpande has cast actor Kay Kay Menon in the lead role for his next directorial venture.
 
Menon will play a character Deshpande himself has essayed for over a decade in his play Ek Kadam Aage. The film is an adaptation of the play, which is a comic satire  written by Deshpande.

Deshpande’s theatre associate, Shailendra Barwe has composed the music for the film, titled Dream Man. Kunal Ganjawala has rendered a hip-hop song for the film.

Says Deshpande, “My play Ek Kadam Aage is a timeless show and has the ingredients to be adapted into a film. We are making this film under the banner of Friday Rush Films. I have even penned the lyrics for the film. We are adding three more songs to the original play to have a complete album of six songs. I have signed Kay Kay to play the main protagonist. Kay Kay and I have worked together in plays. It will be fun directing him for a movie.”

Dream Man, says the director, is a fun-filled film. It is about seven dreams and the route to their conversion into reality, and is more of a multiplex film. It will mount the sets in April and will be released in September 2007. The major portions of the film will be shot in Mumbai, with one outdoor schedule elsewhere in India.

This will be Deshpande’s third film. His first film Danav, made in association with Akashdeep, was screened at international film festivals. His second film, Hanan, was produced by Sahara, and is about faith and being real, and is scheduled to release this summer.

The film stars Manoj Bajpai and Sonali Kulkarni in the lead roles. He has to his credit 33 Hindi plays as a writer, director, actor and producer. As an actor, Deshpande began his career with Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak in 1988.