Sushmita Sen has repeatedly confessed wanting to be part of a historical project. It has never happened, until now.

If all goes well, she will play Emperor Ashoka's fifth wife in a film on the Mauryan emperor that Pinjar director Dr Chandraprakash Diwedi is about to make.

Diwedi has been working on the project round-the-clock. "I met Sushmita for Ashoka and not Jhansi Ki Rani, as was reported by a section of the press," he says. "And she is extremely excited about it."

Two years ago, Sushmita had been offered an item song in Santosh Sivan's Asoka, but she refused. 'If I do a historical, I want to be an integral part of it,' she had argued.

So, what about Jhansi Ki Rani? Apparently, Sushmita really wanted to play the legendary queen, and has been researching the part and grabbing every book available on it. Dr Diwedi admits she has spoken to him about it. "She is keenly interested in the character and seemed very impressed by my research. She asked me numerous questions about it. She may ask me to write the film for her, which I'd have no problems doing. But I haven't offered to make Jhansi Ki Rani with Sushmita or anyone else. As far as I know, Ketan Mehta is making Jhansi Ki Rani with Aishwarya Rai [Images]. This is nothing but an attempt to play up the two actresses. I am working on Prithviraj-Sanjukta, which will have Sunny Deol. Ashoka may star a major Hollywood actor."