THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The action character Thara, that was supposed to be played by the late South Indian actress Silk Smitha, will soon get a rebirth on the silver screen. Discussions are underway to do a big-budget action thriller produced by Kilimanoor Chandran and directed by renowned editor Suresh. The film, originally titled 'Uthkadanam', was planned in 1996 with Silk Smitha playing the lead role. Vidya Balan, who starred in 'The Dirty Picture', based on Silk Smitha's life, may play the lead role in this film as well, producer Kilimanoor Chandran said. He added that discussions regarding this are progressing. The screenplay of the film was written by Rajendra Babu. The film will be released in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi with some modifications.

Smitha's mysterious death took place a day before the shooting of the film was supposed to start. Though several other actresses from Mumbai and Chennai were later considered for the role, the makers decided to abandon the project as they felt that they won't be able to do justice to the character.

The story of the film was narrated to Smitha in February 1996. The shooting of the film was supposed to commence on September 24. Upon hearing the story, Smitha was thrilled to play a different role from the type of characters she had done so far. Her costumes were finalised and a poster featuring her carrying an AK 47 gun was released. However, the news of her death emerged while the makers were holding a discussion about the climax of the film.