Filmmaker Ameer is back. This time as an actor. He is playing the lead role in `Yogi', directed by Subramaniam Siva of `Thiruda Thirudi' fame. Produced by Ameer's home production Team Works, plans are on to release the movie this Deepavali.

"Life in slums has changed a lot. There are many graduates and IT workers living there. We have chronicled the travails of a youth living in one such Chennai slum in `Yogi'," says Ameer.

"We chose to do a movie around Chennai hutments, a hitherto unexplored area. The protagonist Yogeswaran alias Yogi leads a happy-go-lucky life and the events that he comes across in his life make up the story," he adds.

On his playing the lead role, Ameer says, "I am comfortable directing movies. My movies `Mounam Pesiyadhae', `Ram' and `Paruthiveeran' were well-received. But Subramaniam Siva insisted that I do the lead in `Yogi'. I took it as a challenge. I had rigorous workouts, reduced my weight and followed a strict diet to prepare myself for the role."

The biggest challenge that Ameer faced on donning the greasepaint was from the director in him who awoke every time he stood before the camera. "Thankfully Subramaniam Siva took charge. He made me feel at ease and extracted the best out of me," says Ameer. About the delay in the movie's release, he says, "it is no easy task to shoot in various slums of Chennai. We had to wait patiently for several weeks, even to shoot one scene and incurred huge costs.

The whole team, however, worked hard. All credit to the technicians who managed to shoot the movie without much hassles. Yuvan Shankar Raja's music is another highlight of the film."

On working with Subramaniam Siva, he says, "people know him as "Manmadha Rasa" director. But he was the one who gave us a serious romantic story in a lighter vein in `Thiruda Thirudi'. I was impressed with his work when I shot for `Yogi'. He is sure to go places after this."