MUMBAI: Filmmakers Karan Johar and Rohit Shetty have joined hands to work together in their next project. However, both filmmakers come from a very different background and make completely different movies.

"We are both passionate about cinema. Apart from that, I greatly admire him [Shetty] as a filmmaker and a person. He has tremendous goodwill in the industry. He has the respect of his cast and crew. Everyone who has worked with him has a word of praise for him. And that’s so rare in the industry. I know that they love and respect him, and for me that speaks for the kind of person he is. As a director, his track record speaks for itself,” said Karan.

“Right now, Rohit has some commitments to finish and once that’s done, we’ll figure the cast out. Then, we’ll make the big announcement. Dharma has produced many films with first-time directors (Soham Shah, Nikhil Advani, Ayan Mukherjee, Puneet Malhotra, Rensil D’Silva, and Karan Malhotra). This is the first time we’ve got an established director… someone who is on top of his game. He’s made six films in five years! That’s more than me! I have directed five films in 14 years!” said Johar

Meanwhile, Rohit too shares the admiration Karan holds for him, “I respected his dad Yash Johar a lot, I’ve heard great things about him from my mom and my seniors. I respect Karan for his achievements as a director as well as a producer. For me, making a film for Dharma is not just a project but a big responsibility. People are saying it’s going to be one of the biggest collaborations ever but for me it’s a film that I want to work harder for. I want to make a good and highly successful commercial film for Dharma – to pay tribute to a man who is not with us. A man the Hindi film industry respects and loves. This one is for Yash Johar.” said Rohit.