Sagar alias Jackie along the lines of Billa

The shoot of Sagar alias Jackie, a sequel to Mohanlal's 1987 blockbuster Irupatham Noottandu directed by K. Madhu, will start in mid-December. The film will be shot in the exotic locations of Goa, Mumbai, Dubai, Leh and Kochi. An exclusive photo shoot of Sagar alias Jackie was held last week at Mohanlal's Max Lab in Kochi.

To be directed by Malayalam's most stylish director Amal Neerad of Big B fame and produced by Antony Perumbavoor under the banner of Ashirvad films, the film will be a stylish thriller on the lines of the Tamil film Billa.

It is learnt that producer Antony Perumbavoor has approached South India"s costliest actress Nayantara to play one of the heroines, while Meena will play the other heroine.

The original was about Sagar alias Jackie (Mohanlal), a smuggler who runs a clandestine gold smuggling business for Shekharan Kutty (Suresh Gopi), son of the State Chief Minister. Later, Jackie stops his smuggling business and spends his personal time pining for a girlfriend (Urvashi).

Meanwhile, Ashwathy (Ambika), a reporter for a news magazine, publishes a sensational article connecting Jackie to the Chief Minister. It creates an uneasy relationship between Sekharan Kutty and Jackie into an open confrontation. In the climax, Jackie guns down Shekharan Kutty.

In the new version, written by S.N. Swamy, Jackie, after killing the Chief Minister's son, escapes from India to Dubai where he slowly becomes a big underworld don. However, he returns to Kerala as his enemies try to trap him in an 'explosive' case. How he sorts them out is the story in a nutshell. The film is expected is grace theatres on March 31, 2009 as Mohanlal's big summer release.