Director-cinematographer Santosh Sivan will be back with another Malayalam project after a 7-year hiatus. His follow-up to Urumi will feature Manju Warrier, Kalidas Jayaram and Soubin Shahir in the lead. 

The untitled film will be a thriller and will have Santosh handling both directing and cinematography duties. Nedumudi Venu, Aju Varghese, Suraj Venjaramoodu, and Ramesh Pisharody are also part of the cast.

A Dubai-based company called Lensman Studios is bankrolling the project, which is expected to start rolling in Haripad, Alappuzha on October 20. The locations are Kerala and London. Experts from both Indian and international cinema will be part of the film's technical crew.

This is the first time that Manju is collaborating with Santosh. The ace cinematographer also has Kunjali Marakkar IV planned with Mammootty. As Priyadarshan is already working on the same subject with Mohanlal titled Marakkar: Arabikadaline Simham, Santosh has currently put his project on hold. 

Santosh is the cinematographer of Mani Ratnam's Chekka Chivantha Vaanam which comes out on September 27. Meanwhile, Kalidas' new film, with director Jeethu Joseph, has started rolling. He has also signed Midhun Manuel Thomas' Argentina Fans Kaattoorkadavu and Aashiq Abu's Virus.