Bollywood actress Kajol is all set to play a lead role in a Malayalam film tentatively titled "Heartbeats".

In 1996, she hit it off with the Tamil audiences with her first south Indian love story "Minsarakanavu". The film, which also had dancing wizard Prabhu Deva and Arvind Swamy, was noted for Kajol's sprightly performance as well as its song sequences. The film was remade in Hindi as "Sapnay".

"Heartbeats", being scripted and directed by Babu Janardhanan, is billed as the first Malayalam film set in a campus background sans a love theme.

Although the director is tight-lipped about the story, he said that Indrajith and Manikuttan will play medical students in the campus drama. Apart from them, popular Malayalam television anchors - Govindan Kutty and Arun V. Natrayanan - are also roped in for important roles.

Simran, once the most popular heroine in Tamil cinema who left acting after her marriage and is currently attempting a comeback, and Tabu, who has starred in successful Tamil films like "Kadhal Desam", were considered for the main female role but the final choice was Kajol.

If "Hearbeats" shooting starts as scheduled, it will be Kajol's second film after marriage. Last year she made a comeback with "Fanaa" along with Aamir Khan.