Rajiv Menon’s Sarvam Thaala Mayam, starring GV Prakash and scored by AR Rahman, has acquired a French co-producer and crew, Screen International reported.

Titled Madras Beats in English, the Tamil movie stars Prakash as a Dalit drummer who wants to learn Carnatic music. The French company Ghosts City is co-producing the movie with Menon’s Mindscreen Cinemas, the publication reported. Also attached to the project are French editor Nadia Ben Rachid and sound mixer Thierry Delor, who worked on Abderrahmane Sissako’s award-winning Timbuktu (2014).

The movie’s cast includes Nedumudi Venu, Aparna Balamurali, Vineeth and Dhivyadarshini. It will be released in India in a 125-minute version and will have a 111-minute cut for the international market.

“While most Indian films have music and songs in them, they are essentially romcoms,” Menon told Screen International. “Madras Beats is a musical with a strong sense of realism and a story of hope where a young person from the outside overcomes odds to succeed in a rarefied world of classical Indian music.”

The film is the long-awaited third feature from Menon, who is also an acclaimed cinematographer. He made his debut in 1997 with Minsara Kanavu, and followed it up with Kandukondain Kandukondain in 2000.