Veteran director Mani Ratnam is riding high with the super success of his recent outing Nawaab. He is on a break and is busy with the pre-production work of his next film which is based on the novel Ponniyin Selvan. The regular shoot commences from March and Vikram has been roped in for one of the lead roles in this action thriller. Natural Star Nani is in talks for the other lead role and the actor is expected to take a call this week.

This untitled project will be made on a budget of Rs 150 crores and Bollywood top actors Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai will play other pivotal roles. The film is expected to release in all the Indian languages and Madras Talkies, Lyca Productions are the producers. The makers are in plans to release the film early next year. AR Rahman will compose the music.