The 'Godfather' star will portray Matisse in the Escape Artists' movie, which will depict the true story of the painter's relationship with his nurse Monique Bourgeois, who also served as his model and muse.

Mehta, best known for her series 'Fire', 'Earth' and 'Water' on India, will direct the Academy-award-winning actor from a script by Donald Martin, the Variety reported.

Todd Black, Steve Tisch and Jason Blumenthal will produce, while Chris Coggins will co-produce.

The project is currently in development and has no start date, though producers will soon begin casting the two female leads.

The 70-year-old actor will next be seen opposite Channing Tatum in Dito Montiel's cop drama 'The Son of No One'. He's also set to play controversial record producer Phil Spector in an untitled HBO movie from writer-director David Mamet.

Mehta, 61, who was born in Amritsar and studied in Delhi University, last helmed Preity Zinta in 'Heaven on Earth'.

She is currently developing 'Winds of Change', an adaptation of Salman Rushdie's 'Midnight's Children'. She has also announced a film 'Komagata Maru' with Bollywood star akshay Kumar, which based on Komagata Maru incident.