At a time when accolades pouring in from various quarters for his camera work in Mani Ratnam’s ‘Raavanan’ and ‘Raavan’, Santosh Sivan is busy with something else. Yes, the cinematographer is directing a film titled ‘Urumi’.

A bilingual period drama which is simultaneously made in Tamil and Malayalam, ‘Urumi’ will have Prithviraj and Genelia playing the lead roles. While ‘Urumi’ means a sword in Malayalam, the word is used in Tamil to refer a ‘melam’ used in special occasions.

Interestingly, Genelia is a popular actress in all other south Indian languages (Tamil, Telugu and Kannada) and ‘Urumi’ is expected to take her to the Kerala audience. “She looks innocent and seemed right for the role,” says Santosh Sivan.

On roping in Prithviraj, he says, “I have worked with him in two films (‘Ananthabhadram’ and ‘Raavanan’). He is a talented actor who is very passionate about cinema. So I wanted to join hands with him again.”