New York-based Indian author Suketu Mehta is penning the next Merchant-Ivory production "The Goddess" starring Tina Turner in the lead role.

Directed and produced by the duo of Ismail Merchant and James Ivory, "The Goddess" is inspired by an old Indian fable of a ghost who asks riddles to a king.

"Tina Turner is playing the goddess and she will sing four songs composed by tabla maestro Zakir Hussain," tells Mehta. He is now on a tour of India to promote his new book on Mumbai, "Maximum City: Bombay Lost & Found".

"The songs would be in English with snatches of different languages," he said.