Chennai, Sep 29 (IANS): Actress Sai Pallavi has been roped in as the leading lady of Dhanush starrer upcoming Tamil action-comedy "Maari 2", its director Balaji Mohan announced on Thursday.

"The vibrant Sai Pallavi is the heroine of 'Maari 2'. It's a character that's right at the heart of the film," Balaji tweeted.

The project marks Balaji's second collaboration with Dhanush after "Maari".

In "Maari", Dhanush played a dhoti-clad, moustache twirling local rowdy and he was paired with Kajal Aggarwal.

Actors Robo Shankar and Vinod, who played Dhanush's sidekicks in the first part, will be part of "Maari 2", which is slated to go on the floors from October.

Malayalam actor Tovino Thomas has been signed to play the antagonist.

On signing the project, he told IANS: "After 'Tharangam' and 'Maradona', this will be my third collaboration with Dhanush. I'm really excited to be part of the project. I'm looking forward to start working on this project."

Dhanush made his foray into Malayalam films with "Tharangam". "Maradona" marked his second production in the language.

On the career front, Dhanush also has Tamil films "Vada Chennai" and "Enai Nokki Paayum Thotaa in his kitty.