Michelin star celebrity chef Vikas Khanna has added many flavours to people’s lives with his extraordinarily good food (and good looks, not to forget). The man is ready to don another hat of a director with his debut The Last Color, based on his book with the same name, which will see Neena Gupta playing the lead character of Noor. 

Khanna’s fictional book revolves around an age-old tradition of not allowing widows in Vrindavan to play Holi. The book talks about the friendship between a young tight-rope walker and a widow named Noor in Vrindavan who yearns to play with colours on the occasion of Holi but are held back by tradition. The book will be published on May 18, 2018, and the movie that is in the works right now will release a few months later.

The movie was announced by the actress of the movie, Neena Gupta, through her Instagram page. Turning director for the first time and choosing a sensitive topic is a difficult and challenging phase of Vikas’ life, which he is readily looking forward to. Talking about the idea behind the story, he said, “It’s a very simple story capturing the richness of India. I found this story so compelling that I couldn’t resist telling it to the world. I mean, imagine being denied the right to touch colour. My life is all about colour in the form of spices and vegetables; the thought that if someone took that privilege away from me, drove me crazy.”

He added, “Even when I wrote the book, everyone asked me, ‘Why fiction?’ And I’d tell them that I want a surprise element in my career. Honestly, I didn’t think I’d make the film — I never had the time. But when I realised that the subject means so much to me, I was convinced that nobody would be as close to the story as I am. This is the most organic work I am going to do in my entire life.”

The movie’s teaser will be unveiled at the Cannes film festival which is scheduled from May 8-19.

H/T: Hindustan Times