After months of speculation, it has been officially announced that Jyothika, Aishwarya Rajesh, Simbu, Vijay Sethupathi, Arvind Swami and Fahadh Faasil are on board Mani Ratnam’s next multi-starrer project.

On Friday, the cast was finalised and it was further added that two more woman actors are being considered. The statement further added that the project will start rolling from January 2018.

A source close to Ratnam has confirmed that it won’t be a romantic flick and that he’s trying something different in the thriller genre.

“It’s a mega-budget star-studded project. It’ll be easily the biggest film, both in terms of budget and scale in Ratnam’s career. Following the debacle of Kaatru Veliyidai, he didn’t want to do another romantic film and hence put together this multi-starrer project,” a source close to Ratnam said.

There are also rumors that Telugu actor Vijay Devarakonda, who became an overnight sensation with Arjun Reddy, might also be part of the project. “Mani sir saw Arjun Reddy and he was blown away by Vijay’s performance. It’s not sure whether he has considered him for this project. Telugu actor Nani was originally supposed to be part of the film. However, since he has already committed himself to two Telugu projects, he had to pass the offer.”

It has also been confirmed that A.R Rahman, the double Oscar-winning composer who owes his career to Ratnam, has been confirmed to compose the music. National award-winning editor Sreekar Prasad is also part of the team.

(Content provided by Digital Native)