Mammootty, Renji Panicker to team up again

Aug 6, 2007 IANS

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 6 (IANS) Malayalam superstar Mammootty and scriptwriter-turned-director Renji Panicker are all set to work together again in a film focussing on recent political events in Kerala.

Panicker had earlier scripted two hugely successful films starring Mammootty - "The King" and "Dubai". The new film is also expected to be a major success as Panicker is directing it himself.

Though the shooting for the film is scheduled to start later this month in Kochi, Panicker is confident of releasing it by the end of October.

The filmmaker who is finishing the paper work for the yet-untitled film said this would be his 14th script and his second directorial venture.

"It would be a film which would be incident-packed having all the ingredients similar to my previous films. It is a political thriller incorporating all the recent political happenings in Kerala," Panicker, one of the highest paid scriptwriters in the Malayalam film industry, told IANS.

While Mammootty plays the role of a police officer, the remaining cast is being finalised. Sanjiv Sankar will handle the camera.

The film will be produced by Marikar Films whose recent films, "Big B" starring Mammootty and "Hello" starring Mohanlal, have done well at the box office.

Panicker's lucid writing skills have been credited for the success of many Mohanlal and Suresh Gopi films.

Gopi, who was in hibernation for more than three years, returned in Panicker's first directorial venture "Bharatchandran IPS" with a big bang in August, 2005.