Chennai, Apr 15 (IANS): Actor-filmmaker Prabhudheva says he would like to dedicate his upcoming Tamil directorial "Karuppu Raja Vella Raja", which stars Karthi and Vishal in the lead, to the film's late writer and his friend K. Subhash.

The film marks Prabhudheva's return to direction to Tamil filmdom after six years.

"When I met him (Subhash) last year, he told me he wasn't sure if he would be around to see the film. I told him everything is going to be alright. Unfortunately, he left us even before we could start the project. I would like to dedicate this film to him," Prabhudheva told IANS.

After battling kidney-related problems for months, Subhash passed away last November.

He is best known for helming Vijayakanth-starrer 1990 Tamil actioner "Sathriyan". He had also penned the story of Shah Rukh Khan-starrer "Chennai Express".

"It's not easy to bring two popular heroes together. A lot of factors need to be taken into consideration. However, Karthi and Vishal agreed to work together because of the script. They were really impressed by what Subhash had written," he said.

Talking about the project, Prabhudheva clarified that there's no racial connotation in the title.

"The title is not about colour, but a war between non-violence and violence. While Karthi plays an out-and-out entertaining character, you will see Vishal play a slightly different shade. It's about two friends with two contrasting characters, like Viru and Jai in 'Sholay', but our film is even more entertaining," he added.

Asked about his return to direction after a hiatus, he said he was waiting for the right script.

"When I set up my production company Prabhudheva Studios, my partner wanted me to direct the first film. I wasn't very keen back then and I was looking for an interesting script. This is the fifth film in our banner. Subhash was very close to me and I thought I wouldn't get a better script to return to direction," he said.

The film also stars Sayyeshaa and has music by Harris Jayaraj.