A year ago, screenwriter SN Swamy had revealed that the fifth installment of Mammootty's popular CBI series will go on floors soon. But it’s been a while since we have heard any update on the long-delayed movie. As per the latest reports, the pre-production work for the flick has already begun. The news was revealed by SN Swamy himself.

“The project is very much on. We are planning to start and release it next year itself. There’s no doubt about it. However, I can’t give specifics about when the shoot will start. As Mammootty has committed two other projects, we are waiting for him to complete them,” said Swamy in an interview to a popular news daily.

Swamy had revealed that the ‘CBI’ film will revolve around ‘basket killing’ and that the project will begin filming this year. Meanwhile, a photo of director K Madhu and scriptwriter SN Swamy along with the crew members are currently doing the rounds in social media. An official announcement regarding the same is expected in the coming days.

The first CBI film, 'Oru CBI Diary Kurippu', was released in 1988 and it was immediately followed by a sequel, 'Jagratha', in 1989. Mammootty's lead character Sethurama Iyer, a brilliant investigative officer, is one of his career-best characters. As both the movies were super hits, the makers, after a gap of 15 years did the third part of the movie, 'Sethurama Iyer CBI' in 2004, and a fourth part, 'Nerariyan CBI', in 2005. However, the third and fourth were an average hit at the box-office. All the four films were helmed by K Madhu and scripted by SN Swamy, who promised that the fifth installment will be one of the best ever thrillers that Malayalam cinema has produced till date.

Mammootty's next release will be ‘One’, the political thriller directed by Santosh Viswanath. The film is slated to hit screens by the first week of April.