The yet-to-be named movie is to be produced by Jayaprada herself. Popular Malayalam actor Mukesh would be cast opposite her in the film, dealing with middle-aged love, Sarath told reporters.
The film would also be remade in Hindi with slight variations in its theme and with a different cast, with an eye on marketing the film in the North, he said.
Sarath said shooting of the film would begin on the first of Malayalam month Chingam (August 17) and would be completed in one schedule at locations in and around Nagercoil in Tamil Nadu's Kanyakumari district.
The director would not reveal details of the storyline, but add it is about the life journey of a loco pilot, to be played by Mukesh. "It has a train-related plot," Sarath said.
Besides Mukesh and Jayaprada, the film has characters to be played by young actors whose names have not been finalised. The photoshoot of the film would be held in Mumbai on June 28 and 29, he said.
Sarath had just completed his Hindi feature film 'The Desire,' starring Shilpa Shetty and Chinese actor Xia Yu. The movie, an Indo-Chinese co-production, is slated for release worldwide in the first week of August.
Jayaprada, Anupam Kher, Sachin Khedekar and Sheetal Menon also don important roles in the film. Sarath took a break from Malayalam for five years after doing three feature films which were widely acclaimed for the boldness with which he dealt the contemporary political and social topics through narration of simple human tales.
'Sayahnam' portrayed the conflict between the old and new order and the shift in moral perceptions of a world afflicted by globalisation, while his second film 'Sthithi' (The Plight), made in 2002, dealt with problems within a family in relation to the happenings around.
Sarath's third film 'Seelabathi' (2005) is about the over exploitation of natural resources with a parallel story of sexual abuse of young girls, both reflection of present-day realities in Kerala.
The director took the break to concentrate on the Hindi film 'The Desire,' a mega project with a production cost of around Rs 15 crore. The two-hour film, produced by a film company owned by Shilpa Shetty with fund support from a Chinese company, is now ready for release.
'The Desire' is a curious love story between an Odissi dancer Gouthami (Shilpa Shetty) and Jai Leang (Xia Yu), a talented artist and sculptor of mixed (Chinese and Malaysian-Indian) parentage.
The film portrays the journeys in their lives. While Gouthami is a determined woman of substance, focussing all her energy to the sacred art form of dance, Leang is an introvert whose passion towards his beliefs rooted in Communist childhood is reflected in his art.
"It is a passionate film that deals with dance, music, art, culture and emotions," says Sarath.
Jayaprada, who also plays a key character in 'The Desire' was so impressed with the filmmaker that she wanted to work with him again.
"Jayaprada was impressed by the movie and wanted me to make a film in any south Indian language. When I stuck to Malayalam, she agreed. She has great regard for Malayalam film-makers," Sarath said.
Sarath said the Jayaprada movie in Malayalam would have a serious theme. The Hindi re-make of the film, a commercial version, would be done only after its release here, the director said.