Mani Ratnam, Santhosh Sivan set to team up for sixth time

Following the debacle of Kaatru Veliyidai, filmmaker Mani Ratnam is currently busy assembling team for his next project. While very little is known about his next film, HT has exclusively learnt that the yet-untitled Tamil film will reunite the ace filmmaker with cinematographer-director Santhosh Sivan for the sixth time. The duo had previously worked together in films such as Thalapathi, Raavanan, Roja, Iruvar and Dil Se. If everything goes as planned, the project will roll from September. Sivan is currently working on Mahesh Babu’s Spyder, being directed by AR Murugadoss.

Amidst rumours that the project might feature Ram Charan, our sources have clarified that Ratnam has someone else in mind. Aditi Rao Hydari will most likely play the leading lady and she had even said recently that she’d jump off a cliff to land a role again in Mani Ratnam’s film. It looks like she need not have to take the extreme step as she is said to be already on board and is expected to sign the dotted line very soon.

Our sources have also clarified that the project won’t be another romantic outing from the veteran as he is very keen of exploring a very different genre this time. The pre-production work is already underway and Ratnam is busy zeroing on the cast. As usual, the film will be bankrolled by Ratnam’s home banner, Madras Talkies, and will have music by AR Rahman.