Shahid turns a thief!

Shahid Kapur is looking at new avenues now and, to begin with, he is accepting some challenging roles, to break away from the image he has created for himself.

Moving out of his comfort zone of family films, Ravi Chopra too is making a compelling drama - Pocket Maar - revolving around a petty thief and a family man in a maddeningly claustrophobic cityscape.

After finishing his script last year, Chopra has been engaged in a longstanding battle of sorts to find the ‘right' cast. His problem stems from the fact that most of tinseltown's hunks are too suave to play a young thief in the film. However, his hunt came to a close recently when he finalised Shahid Kapur.

Apparently, Chopra is very impressed with Shahid's acting skills and wants to present him as a not-so-glamourous, dishevelled, petty pickpocket in the film, which hits the floors later this year.

Meanwhile, Shahid seems to be on a roll. The actor, who has hit the grind with a vengeance after his break-up with Kareena Kapoor, is presently filming for Ken Ghosh's untitled film. He will also feature in Vishal Baharadwaj's next, a Yash Raj Film opposite Rani Mukerji and his father Pankaj Kapur's directorial debut.

As expected, the actor doesn't want to let go of Chopra's film, which also stars Amitabh Bachchan. A source close to the actor reveals that if all goes well, Shahid will be seen sharing screen space with Bachchan.

Shahid, who had a modest upbringing and has travelled in local trains in Mumbai, has had a few encounters with pickpockets, who operate in gangs.

Director Chopra, however, says he has not had any such personal experiences with pickpockets. He adds that he wanted to film a unique subject, and has decided to highlight the plight of a family man (Bachchan) who suffers at the hands of a pickpocket.