Lyricist Rashmi Virag, who has penned songs like "Muskurane ki wajah tum ho", "Bol do na zara" and "Zinda hoon mein", is now venturing into direction with upcoming short film "Neelofar".

"Neelofar' is a gangster's love story dealing with complex egos and emotions. It is a tribute to the Salim-Javed kind of cinema. It has high octane dialogues and larger than life characters. It's a short film of about 15 minutes," Virag said in a statement,

The short film stars Satish Kaushik and Harshvardhan Deo.

"Satish Kaushik is my friend and his body of work has always inspired me. I was always aware of his acting potential and I knew that he has much more to offer than just comic roles. I thought that he would be the perfect fit for the role of Yaqoob Mirza in my film. He is an inspiration for me," Virag said.

"Harsh Vardhan Deo was introduced to me by Satish Kaushik himself. I made Harsh do a reading and the look in his eyes and the intensity with which he read the lines made me look no further. Harsh has a deep set of eyes and also is blessed with a natural swag. I chose him for the freshness he brings on the screen. Being a new face he became the character of Zafar (gangster)," Virag added.

The short film will be released on August 21.