Indian filmmaker Subhash Ghai's next film will be musical love story Kisna with Vivek Oberoi in the title role.

Ghai told ScreenDaily.com that Kisna is set in the 1930s and that it will begin shooting in December in the foothills of the Himalayas in India. It is slated for an August 15, 2004 release.

Two of the film's five songs and its background score have been composed by A R Rahman (Bombay Dreams), with the rest by Ismail Durbar.

The film is based on a screenplay by former Farooq Dhondy, a former executive at the UK's Channel 4, Magaret Glover, Sachin Bhowmick and Subhash Ghai himself.

Oscar winner Bhanu Athaiya will design the costumes and Ashok Mehta will be the cinematographer.

Ghai added "This film is for Indians worldwide, from India's rural heartland to the audience in New York. In planning this kind of an epic film, budgets cannot be calculated since quality and authenticity are the priorities in my mind to make this kind of magnum motion picture."

Ghai's listed company Mukta Arts Ltd is celebrating its 25th year in business. Mukta Arts' Taal was the first Indian film to feature in both the UK and US top ten box office charts and earned US$ 2.5 million in theatrical sales in North America.

Mukta Arts is also to produce Aitraaz, a thriller directed by Abbas-Mastan, starring Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Amrish Puri and Annu Kapoor. Isha Sharwani and British actress Katherine Beckett play the female leads in the film.