Laurence has spent the last 25 years directing and producing features, television dramas and series around the world.
His latest film "Cover Story" is an official adaptation of legendary Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh's film "The Interview", which was remade by actor-director Steve Buscemi in Hollywood starring Sienna Miller in the lead.
"Jackie Shroff plays the award-winning political and war correspondent, who is assigned to interview one of the most popular actresses of the country. I am aware of the obsession with stars here but for my film I wanted an actor not a star.
"Jackie is a wonderful performer. He has delivered a top notch performance. He took the character to another level," Laurens told PTI.
The film also stars newcomer Anjum Nayar and will hit theatres September 28.
When asked why he decided to cast a new actress in the film, Laurens said, "I auditioned a lot of actress and then zeroed down upon Anjum. We did a lot of rehearsals with her and I can say that I am particularly happy with her performance."
The director, who lives between London, Johannesburg and Mumbai with his wife and three children, said that he is presently writing a new feature "In Between Twins" and his next film "The Audition", a thriller based in Amsterdam, is in pre-production stage.