MUMBAI: Following the success of Delhi Belly, UTV Motion Pictures has signed the movie’s writer Akshat Verma for his first directorial venture.

Verma’s directorial debut will be a comic thriller and being scripted by him.

UTV Motion Pictures CEO Siddharth Roy Kapur said, "As a studio, we have always believed in backing upcoming talent who have the potential to bring entertaining cinema to audiences. The fantastic script written by Akshat was undoubtedly one of the key reasons behind the success of Delhi Belly and judging by his concept and vision, we believe he’ll write and direct a superb film."

Verma added, "Working with UTV on Delhi Belly was a fantastic experience for me. To have a major studio get behind your film completely enables you to do your best work – I’m inspired and excited to be working with UTV again on my next film."