Nikhila Vimal, Shine Tom Chacko, Sajin Gopu, Siddharth Bharathan and Ganapathi will headline a new film titled Dhoomakethu. It is helmed by Sudhi Maddison, who made his independent directorial debut with the Naslen-Mathew Thomas starrer Neymar, and previously served as co-director on Tharun Moorthy’s Operation Java.

Dhoomakethu, jointly scripted by Sonny and Manu, was launched with a traditional pooja ceremony on Monday in Kochi. The technical crew of the film includes cinematographer Jinto George, editor Chaman Chakko and composer Justin Varghese. It is produced by Sameer Thahir, Shyju Khalid, Sajin Ali and Abbas Thirunavaya under the banners Happy Hours Entertainments and A & HS Production House.

Nikhila’s upcoming projects also include debutant Febin Sidharth’s Pennu Case and Jiyen Krishnakumar’s Malayalam-Tamil bilingual Ananthan Kaadu, led by Arya.

Shine will next be seen in AJ Varghese’s Adinasham Vellappokkam, scheduled for release on December 5. His forthcoming slate also includes VK Prakash’s Bangalore High, co-starring Siju Wilson, and Ajay Devaloka’s Hussainte Olu.

Sajin was last seen in Sreejith Babu’s Painkili, opposite Anaswara Rajan.