Mumbai, Nov 18 (IANS): Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta is turning author. He is busy penning a compilation of short stories that he hasn't been able to tell through his movies.

In 2008, Gupta, under his banner White Feather Films, had made "Dus Kahaniyaan", a feature length film made up of 10 short films. His love for the short story format continues as he has started writing a series of short stories to be published as a book.

"I’ve finished writing the first three and to be honest am quite enjoying the process," Gupta, who has helmed films like "Kaante", "Zinda" and "Shootout at Wadala", said in a statement.

"My cinema is essentially dark, but I am consciously moving away from that space and making my films brighter now. So this is the obvious platform for me to release all the dark stories I still want to tell and to tread fearlessly in telling these stories," he added.

Gupta believes "it’s a luxury you do not have when writing for the screen".

He is in talks with a major publishing house for his book.

However, he has no plans of bringing the short stories to the big screen "as they are extremely dark and graphic and would find it impossible to pass through our censors”.