The 57-year-old actor screened his new film "Vishwaroop" to Hollywood producer Barrie M Osborne, of the `Lord of the Rings` fame, and the two are now planning to collaborate on a project. "My friend Barrie Osborne is coming down and we are planning, so hopefully I`ll be doing something in Hollywood," said Hassan.
Meanwhile the actor-director is gearing up to release his new film "Vishwaroop", a spy thriller made simultaneously in Tamil and Hindi. "The content of the film is such that it demanded a larger audience, so we made the film in both languages. The basic premise of the film is to get the audience to theatres, so that the people who have invested in the film, including me, can rake in the moolah," he said.
The film has an unusual star cast comprising Indian-American actress Pooja Kumar, Tamil actress Andrea Jeremiah and actors Rahul Bose and Sandeep Jamwal. Hassan himself stars in the lead role.
"I was not looking for stars in the film, I wanted talent. Also a person starring in a role should suit it, that goes for me as well. We chose Pooja after a looking through a number of other actresses. Rahul prepared for one and a half months for his role, working on his look and Tamil accent, I am very pleased with him," said Hassan.
Sonakshi Sinha and Deepika Padukone were also in talks for the film but Hassan said the deal did not work out. "Without taking any names I can say she did not have dates so she couldn`t be a part of this film. My financier had suggested her name. I wanted to work with artistes and a lot of names had come up while we were casting for the film."
The film also stars Shekhar Kapur in a unique role. "I have been trying to convince him (Kapur) to work in a film with me for the past 26 years and I must have discussed at least 260 stories with him. He did this film out of friendship, not a marketing strategy," said Hassan while unveiling the first look of the film at the IIFA awards here today.
The release date of "Vishwaroop" is not fixed yet but the maker`s are already planning to make a sequel. "We had planned a part two of this film from the very beginning. Andrea was roped in because she has an even bigger role to play. As soon as the first part is released, we will go back to working on the sequel," said Hassan.
He is known for making films like "Chachi 420" and "Hey Ram" and Hassan says he is a reluctant actor as he always wanted to go behind the camera.