Mumbai, Oct 5 (IANS) That Malayalam avant-garde director Shaji Karun is making a film on the life of the pioneer of ancient calendar art, Raja Ravi Varma, with Madhavan in the lead comes as a surprise even to the actor.

Shooting in the interiors of Tamil Nadu for a Tamil take on 'Hum Aapke Hain Koun', Maddy says: 'Quite some time ago Shaji, whom I really respect as a filmmaker, did ask me about it. But that's it. That's the first and last time I heard about this project.'

With Ketan Mehta also making a film, 'Rang Rasiya', on the painter, wonder why this sudden interest in Raja Ravi Varma?

According to a source, 'When Ketan Mehta decided to make a biopic on Raja Ravi Verma, producer Bobby Bedi was very keen on producing the film. But then things between the director and his producer weren't quite hunky-dory during the making of 'The Rising'. After the film was complete, Mehta and Bedi parted ways... The bifurcation impelled the ambitious producer to take the idea to another filmmaker.'