Manju and Indrajith reunite in Sajid Yahiya's next

Actor Sajid Yahiya, who made his directorial debut with Jayasurya's IDI, has already started work on his next project.
As per sources, the makers are trying for the title Mohanlal for the movie, which is about a girl who is deeply influenced by the superstar's onscreen persona. Manju Warrier and Indrajith, who were seen together in Vettah earlier this year, will reportedly play the lead roles in the film.
When contacted, Sajid says, 'I am working on such a project, but can't confirm anything right now because we are yet to finalise certain aspects.' However, a source close to the director says that the entertainer will explore what Mohanlal means to the women of Kerala, from a girl's point of view.
On the plot, the source explains, 'She is born in a hospital, at a time when Mohanlal makes his famous interval entry in Manjil Virinja Pookkal. When she was six years old, she solves a big issue in life after watching a Mohanlal movie. Then on, Mohanlal films become her source of solace and she feels that the actor is always with her as a source of support. As she grows up, every person she sees remind her of the actor's onscreen avatars. Like when she sees a contractor, she thinks of his character C Pavithran Nair in Vellanakalude Nadu and when she sees a gurkha, she feels it is Ram Singh from Gandhinagar 2nd Street.'
Meanwhile, a controversy has already erupted about the movie's story being lifted from the works of writer Kalavoor Ravikumar. The writer tells us, 'My story was published in a prominent Malayalam publication when the scriptwriter Suneesh Vaaranadu was working there. Anybody can take such a recorded story and tweak it for a screen version, claiming it to be another unique story. Therefore, there is an ethical issue here. I have filed a complaint about it with the FEFKA writers union.'
However, Sajid tells us, 'There is no similarity between the two stories except that both have a woman who adores actor Mohanlal. But it is a universal thought and we have had many films released like that, across industries over the years. For instance, Bollywood film Guddi, released in 1989, is about a girl smitten by Dharmendra while the Tamil film Cinema Paithyam is about someone who adores Kamal Haasan. The scriptwriter of my film, Suneesh, even offered to give the story to Ravikumar to cross-check the facts, but he replied he isn't interested.'