"Mirch Masala" director Ketan Mehta is ready to announce his next venture - a screen adaptation of the popular Marathi novelist Ranjet Desai's award winning biography on the legendary 19th century artist Raja Ravi Verma.

"Colours of Passion" will be an Indo-French-German venture.

Grapevine suggests that Ketan and wife Deepa Sahi have been working on the project for quite some time now and have already procured the rights for the book. Known to do his homework before talking about his new projects, Mehta is expected to announce the film soon.

The film is slated for a release in April 2007.