Mohanlal has joined the cast of Nivin Pauly starrer Kayamkulam Kochunni, one of the most anticipated Malayalam releases of 2018. Pauly tweeted the announcement from his profile on January 8.

Pauly plays the titular character of a 19th-century thief based in Kerala who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. The film has been scripted by the duo Bobby-Sanjay while Rosshan Andrews, best known for directing films like Notebook (2006) and Evidam Swargamanu (2009), is helming the project.

Pauly has two more releases in 2018: the musical romance Hey Jude where he stars with Trisha, and Liar’s Dice director Geetu Mohandas’ bilingual film Moothon. Mohanlal, meanwhile, has been shooting for the fantasy film Odiyan, also due for release this year.