Samir Soni with wife Neelam

Samir Soni, who is making his debut as a director with My Birthday Song, says it was filmmaker Karan Johar who encouraged him to helm the film. Asked if shifting gears from acting to direction is a natural progression, Samir told IANS: "I have always had an interest in suspense thriller and dark, intellectually stimulating stories. I wrote one of them and my friends said that it is a good story.