The younger brother of national award-winning cameraman Santhosh Sivan is to direct Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan in a Hindi film titled "The Stranger".

"Amitabh was impressed after three themes were presented to him. The one that impressed him the most was my own Malayalam film 'Aparichithan' starring Mammootty that was released here last year," said the Mumbai-based 40-year-old Sanjeev Sivan.

"There are some changes from the Malayalam film. The rest of the cast would be decided later," Sivan added.

The film is slated for release next year.

Also involved in the project is Kirit Trivedi, executive producer of an untitled British production in English.

"The film directed by me will be shot on a Rs.4 crore (Rs.40 million-$910,000) set that is being put up at Karjat (near Mumbai)", said Sivan.

Sivan, who hails from Kerala, is the youngest of three brothers. The eldest, Sangeeth Sivan, is a well-known director.

Even though 'Aparichithan' is Sivan's sole commercial venture, he has been part and parcel of the Sivan film family for well over two decades - first helping his father, a national award winning film personality, and then his two elder brothers.

This year, he has also planned two Malayalam films - both with Dileep - one of which is a sequel to the Sangeeth Sivan directed 'Yodha'. He is committed to doing two short films for the National Geographic channel.

"One is a documentary 'Who Killed Rajiv Gandhi'. We are not looking into the political angle. We have based it on forensic reports," said Sivan.

The documentary is based on a book by former Central Bureau of Investigation director D.R. Karthikeyan, who headed the team which probed the former prime minister's assassination.