Sonam Kapoor opts out of Mani Ratnam's film!

According to the buzz, the role has now gone in the hands of Tamil-Telugu actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu, who has readily agreed to work opposite Gautam in the film. Samantha will soon also be seen in Bollywood with her debut flick Gautham Menon's Assi Nabbey Pure Sau.

Apparently, the reason for Sonam's last minute refusal of the film was the fact that she did not want to head to the South film industry at this point in her career. She wants to focus solely on her Bollywood career. However, her decision left Mani in a lurch as he already had his heart set on Sonam as the protagonist. He felt she would have portrayed the role of the innocent, yet sophisticated and vivacious girl perfectly! And this is how Samantha ended up with the envied lead role!