MUMBAI:Actor Aseem Merchant is stepping into production under the banner of Black Coffee Films. The first film under the banner will be 200 Dollars – an English film based in Afghanistan and New York – wherein Merchant will also be seen acting. The film will be directed by Hasnain Hydrabadwala and Raksha Mistry.

Additionally pre-production work on the second film is underway. Titled Kash and Meer, the film is about two characters from Pakistan and India. “It’s a comedy subject we are working on. It’s about two characters Kashinath and Mirak,” he informs.

On the acting front, apart from Uru Patel’s Hanuman, he will also be seen in films like Sevy Ali’s The Guest and Prabhu Deva’s Wanted: Dead and Alive (Pokkiri remake).

Work on Prabhu Deva’s remake of the Tamil film Pokkiri will begin from 25 July. “I play a gangster who controls the underworld. A rookie – Salman Khan – comes along and then there are clashes as I have to prove to the big boss outside the country,” he says talking about his role in Wanted: Dead and Alive.

His other film – The Guest – is almost complete. Plans are to take the film to the Moroccan Film Festival as the opening film. It is learnt that Merchant will be shooting for Hanuman, alongside Keanu Reeves and Shilpa Shetty in November.

Merchant will also star in Shishir Mishra’s Bheegi Palkein. Scheduled to start in September the film will have Gracy Singh paired opposite Merchant.