Pathemari and Adaminte Abu director Salim Ahamed's next film will have Tovino Thomas playing the role of a struggling filmmaker. Titled And the Oscar Goes To, the project was announced last year by Salim on the day of the Oscar ceremony.

In a chat with Express, the critically-acclaimed filmmaker confirmed that the story of Oscar... revolves around films and the film industry. "The main character is a first-time filmmaker. It's not based on a true story or my own experiences. It's a story that was inspired by the stories of the many struggling filmmakers we see around us."

On the casting front, Anu Sithara will be playing the main female lead and a newcomer from abroad will play the second female lead. Siddique, Suraj Venjaramoodu, and Salim Kumar comprise the supporting cast.

Filming will commence by September with Los Angeles, Canada, Chennai, and Kochi fixed as locations. "We will be shooting the first schedule abroad and the second schedule in India", says the director.

Salim Ahamed made his directorial debut with Adaminte Makante Abu, which garnered four National Awards and four State awards including a Best Actor nod for Salim Kumar. Salim Ahamed's last film was Pathemaari starring Mammootty. The film won a National Award for Best Feature film and is regarded as one of Mammootty's best.

Meanwhile, Tovino Thomas will be seen in Theevandi and Maradona, which are awaiting release. Theevandi has been postponed to an unspecified date and Maradona to July. His next after these two films is Oru Kuprasidha Payyan which also stars Anu Sithara and Nimisha Sajayan.