Beautiful Madhuri Is Now 'Suryamukhi' !

Former Bollywood Queen Madhuri Dixit will make her comeback to Hindi cinema this year, playing the muse of legendary 19th-century painter Raja Ravi Varma.

Suryamukhi (Sunflower) will focus on the six years that Ravi Varma spent in the bustling port city of Bombay where he was inspired by a local woman, Sugunabhai - to be portrayed by 39-year-old Dixit.

The film's director, Shaji Karun, says he was looking for a degree of "maturity and stillness" in the lead actress.

"To get expressions in silence, you need a very good artiste, which is why I thought of Madhuri Dixit," Karun said.

Karun said he has cast Bollywood star Ajay Devgan to play Ravi Varma because the actor's brooding, dark looks matched those of the artist.

"I find a lot of similarities between them. His present age also matches with the artist at that time," the director was quoted as saying, adding that he hoped the movie would be released in October - the 100th anniversary of the artist's death.

Ravi Varma, whose family once ruled southern India's Travancore state, died in 1906 leaving a vast legacy of oil paintings with themes from Indian mythology. They ranged from Hindu goddesses to portraits of women doing their household chores.

Prints of Ravi Varma's paintings are still widely popular today. Calendars and posters featuring his colourful goddess paintings adorn millions of Indian homes.


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