Director K Madhu-SN Swamy's much-anticipated fifth instalment in the CBI series has cleared the censors with a U/A certificate. The makers have confirmed that the film is set for a theatrical release on May 1.

The investigative thriller sees Mammootty reprise the role of the senior CBI official Sethurama Iyer, who takes on a seemingly much bigger challenge in the latest entry in the hit series that was launched in 1988 with the blockbuster Oru CBI Diary Kurippu.

The 5th film, titled The Brain, also features Renji Panicker, Ramesh Pisharody, Dileesh Pothan, Soubin Shahir, Asha Sarath, and Malavika Menon among others.

Akhil George, who shot The Priest and Kala, has lensed the film, while Jakes Bejoy worked on the background score which includes a slightly modified version of the iconic CBI theme composed by Shyam.

CBI 5 is backed by the banner of Swargachithra Appachan.