Sanjay Dutt, Saif Ali Khan and Raima Sen are set to star in a new celluloid version of the Bengali literary classic "Parineeta".

Vidhu Vinod Chopra is producing the movie, his next venture after "Munnabhai M.B.B.S." The shooting begins in Darjeeling from Oct 30 for a start to finish schedule of 65 days.

Based on Saratchandra Chattopadhyay's novel, the new "Parineeta" is being directed by filmmaker Pradeep Sarkar, who has been associated with Vinod Chopra Productions since "Mission Kashmir".

The film also introduces Vidya Balan.

As in "Munnabhai M.B.B.S.", Chopra himself has co-written the screenplay, this time with director Pradeep Sarkar.

Dialogues are by Rekha Nigam. The film's music is by Shantanu Moitra, lyrics are by Swanand Kirkire, cinematography is by S. Natarajan Subramaniam and art direction by Keshto Mondal and Tanushree Sarkar.

Nitin Chandrakant Desai is the consulting art director and Rajkumar Hirani is the creative producer of the film.

The schedule begins with a five-day shoot in Darjeeling, which includes a shoot on the famed toy train of the hill station. Action then shifts to locations in and around Kolkata over the next 35 days.

Following this, an indoor shoot schedule has been planned in Mumbai. The film is scheduled for release April 21, 2005.

This is the third time Bollywood will bring the poignant story of "Parineeta" on celluloid, the two earlier versions having starred actors like Meena Kumari, Ashok Kumar, Jeetendra and Sulakshana Pandit.