The CBI officer Sethurama Iyer is one of Mammootty's most iconic characters ever. He appeared for the first time in the 1988 film 'Oru CBI diary kurip', followed by 'Jagratha' the very next year. Written by S N Swami and directed by K Madhu, the Central Bureau of Investigation team returned after a long gap of 15 years in the 2004 film 'Sethurama Iyer CBI'. The team came the next year with 'Nerariyan CBI', the fourth outing of Mammootty as Sethurama Iyer.
The character is said to have been inspired by a real life police officer, Radhavinod Raju. His excellence and style while investigating the 'Polakulam Peethambaran murder case' and 'SI Soman murder case' as the Superintendent of CBI Kochi attracted the makers. Incidentally, he was Mammootty's senior in Maharaja's College.
Now, after another gap of 12 years, the makers are getting ready to bring life into another on-screen avatar of Sethurama Iyer. Initially, it was said that Mammootty did not feel like doing the role again and had requested the makers to make someone else do the role. Even the makers thought about bringing back Suresh Gopi's character, who was there only in the first outing and doing the film with him in the center.
But finally, Mammootty, S N Swami, and K Madhu came to a mutual agreement that they will do this movie together. It is said to be a big budget film and is expected to be a hi-tech thriller. According to sources, Ranji Panicker will play an important role in the film which will be shot in Kochi, Delhi, and Hyderabad. This will be the first time Sethurama Iyer's investigation will take him outside Kerala.