Vivek to team up once again with Mani Ratnam and Shaad Ali

[chief]

After getting back with his mentor Ram Gopal Varma for Rakta Charitra (nearly 8 years after he debuted in RGV's Company), Vivek Oberoi is now all set to work with another of his mentors Mani Ratnam. The buzz is that Vivek has given the green signal to work in Paki, a film written by Mani Ratnam and to be directed by his assistant Shiva.

It may be recalled that Mani and Vivek worked together in Yuva (2004) and Vivek also featured in the super-hit Saathiya (2002) which itself was a remake of Mani's Tamil blockbuster Alai Payuthey. Even though they never had a chance to work together after Yuva, when Mani Sir approached Vivek for this film, the actor immediately agreed. What's more, Mani's close associate and director of Saathiya, Shaad Ali will be the executive director of this project.

The film is a biopic and tells the story of one of Mani's real-life friends who is based in the U.K. It's no wonder then that this project is something which is very close to the filmmaker's heart. It will be interesting to see if the combo of Mani Ratnam, Vivek Oberoi and Shaad Ali are once again able to create the same magic which they did with Saathiya 8 years ago.