Mani Ratnam's Next Film To Star Vijay Sethupathi and Sai Pallavi; AR Rahman On Board

Mani Ratnam's next film has finally been announced. The upcoming film will bring together Vijay Sethupathi and Sai Pallavi for the first time on screen. Madras Talkies, Mani Ratnam's production house, made this announcement on Instagram. They also confirmed that the filmmaker's frequent collaborator AR Rahman, will join as the composer.

"Delighted to welcome @sonymusic_south as the Audio Partner for #MadrasTalkiesProduction23 💫 #Subaskaran presents A #ManiRatnam Film An @arrahman Musical Produced by @lycaproductions @madrastalkies #IndiaTalkiesStarring @actorvijaysethupathi @saipallavi.senthamarai," their post on Instagram read.

The film will be co-produced by Lyca Productions and Madras Talkies in what is tha latter's 23rd production. The film will be Vijay Sethupathi's second collaboration with Mani Ratnam, following the sibling action drama Chekka Chivantha Vaanam (2018). This will mark Sai Pallavi's first collaboration with Mani Ratnam.

Sai Pallavi, who was last seen in Sivakarthikeyan's Amaran, will next be seen in Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana. Vijay Sethupathi, on the other hand, was last seen in Gandhi Talks and will next be seen in JioHotstar series Kaattaan and Thigarajan Kumararaja's Pocket Novel.

Speaking about Pocket Novel, the actor, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, said, “We’ve started the shoot. It’s going fantastic. I’m enjoying every day." His joy comes from the reverence of watching a master at work. “I love the way this man executes his films.” He speaks of a respect for his craft that is so profound that he even took his son to the sets of Kumararaja’s Ninaivo Oru Paravai from the Amazon Prime Video anthology Modern Love Chennai, simply to observe his work. When asked if he often visits directors on set to watch, he said, “No.. some of the directors I love, I just go to sit (on their sets). But I don't spend too much time there because I don't want to spoil their set," talking about how it is a rare opportunity to witness Kumararaja at work, making the situation different.

Mani Ratnam's last film was Thug Life, starring Kamal Haasan and Silambarasan TR.