Last week director Vishnuvardhan announced that he is currently working on a script set in the 9th century in Tamil Nadu along with veteran Tamil writer Balakumaran. The filmmaker has been visiting various temples across the state to decipher the inscriptions written on ancient temple walls for collecting materials for his script.

The facts that Balakumaran associated with the project, has earlier presented a detailed account on the life and rule of Chozha king Raja Raja Chozhan in his novel series Udayar` and that the script is set in the 9th century lead us to the prediction that the film might be about the great Tamil king Raja Raja Chozha. Due to Vishnuvardhan`s closeness with actor Ajith Kumar and the success record, he shares with the star and also because of the fact that such a huge star would be required to recover the cost of a mega budget period film it is being speculated that Ajith may be cast as the king Raja Raja Chozha in the film.

If these speculations materialise and Ajith takes up the role he has two phenomenal precedents to take as his inspirations.

The first one is the more popular and comes from the Tamil film industry itself. Nadigar Thilagam Sivaji Ganesan has acted as the great Chozha king in the 1973 film and the film`s title itself was Raja Raja Chozhan`. The film dealt with king`s efforts to build the monumental Brahadeeshwara Temple in his kingdom`s capital Thanjavur and also on how he demolition a ploy by his enemy king with the connivance of his own official preceptor (Rajaguru) who turns as a traitor without exposing that he knows the ploy till the end.

Though the film did not fetch huge financial gains it was one of the highly talked about films in terms of making and also for the magnificence of Sivaji in the king` attire, body language and dialogue delivery. Sivakumar, who played as Raja Raja`s son and another great king of the Chozha dynasty Rajendran added more glory to the film. Nambiar who played the negative role of the Rajaguru was also brilliant as usual.

At a time when Sivaji films were associated with tearful sentiment scenes, this film had bare minimal scope for tear jerker scenes and was more of mind games and subtle dialogue exchanges between characters. Instead of speaking in an angry tone, Sivaji would give subtle counters to his enemies with a smile on his face and it was a treat to watch. This was also seen as a refreshing change in Sivaji films and the film brought out a largely unused dimension of the legend`s unmatched acting prowess.

Much before the filmy version on Raja Raja Chozha`, the doyens of Tamil theater T.K.Shanmugam and T.K.Bhagavathi called as TKS Brothers staged a play on the valorous king. In the year 1955 the TKS Brothers Drama Company staged their play Raja Raja Chozhan` for the first time. The drama was a runaway hit that it was staged for more than 2,100 times and for 90 times in Singapore alone. The drama was staged during the Motilal Nehru Centenary Celebrations held in New Delhi in the year 1961. The then Prime Minister of India, watched the drama and praised it, especially for the performances of Bhagavathi as Raja Raja and Shanmugam as Rajendra.

Bhagavathi who has acted in many Tamil films in black and white and Eastman color era was a tall and well built man, which made him the apt choice for the lead role while his elder brother Shanmugam enacted the role of Raja Raja`s son Rajendra.

Long after the demise of TKS brothers, the drama was revived by the next generation of the family and the interesting reason behind this would speak volumes about the success of the drama and the duo`s portrayal of the two great kings of the Chozha dynasty..

During the 8th World Tamil Conference that took place in Thanjavur in 1995, the then Chief Minister J.Jayalalitha wanted to staging the Raja Raja Chozhan play and wanted it to retain the legacy of TKS brothers. So she ensured that the next generation members of the TKS family are involved in the drama. The sons of Bhagavathi and Shanmugam were encouraged to take up the lead roles. Rehearsals were made in the Nadigar Sangam premises and the play was enacted successfully in the conference with thumping response from audience.

It will be a once in a life time experience for an actor to don a role that has been brilliantly done by the seniors in his industry. We hope a talented actor like Ajith getting that opportunity results in a unique and gratifying experience for the audience too.