Dileep is taking a break from his usual comedy avatar and plays a clerk in a lawyer's office in director Madhu Kaithapram's Malayalam film Orma Maathram.

"It is the journey of a father in search of his son, who has been lost after an accident," says Madhu, who has earlier directed films like Ekantham and Madhyavenal.

Priyanka Nair, who was noted in films like Veyil in Tamil and Vilaapangalkkappuram in Malayalam, plays Dileep's wife.

"My character is called Safiya and she has married Ajayan who belongs to a different religion. She is an ordinary girl whose world revolves around her husband and son. Obviously, she is shattered when her son goes missing and the film narrates how the couple try to cope with the tragedy," says Priyanka Nair.

C V Balakrishnan, who has written the screenplay and dialogues based on a story by Rahim Kadavath says, "The story has great social relevance and that attracted me. The couple had high hopes of their only son and when he goes missing, it is really tough for them to accept it,"

"I decided to do this film because it is so realistic and easy to relate to. I would like to do various kinds of roles as an actor and films like this give me an opportunity to explore a different kind of challenge," says Dileep (Ajayan).

Filmstar, in which he plays a brief role, is also releasing soon. He is currently shooting for Sandhya Mohan's Mr Marumakan.

Orma Maathram has been produced by Rajan Thaliparamba under the banner of Horizon Entertainment. The cast also includes Nedumudi Venu, Jagathy Srikumar, Salim Kumar and Dhanya Mary among others. The lyrics by Kaithapram Damodaran Namboodiri have been set to music by Kaithapram Viswanathan. The cinematographer is M J Radhakrishnan.