Mani Ratnam to reintroduce Parthiban's daughter

The guessing games for the female lead in Mani Ratnam's next seems to have not come to an end, as the filmmaker is yet to find a new face for his forthcoming multilingual movie. After unsuccessful attempts to introduce Akshara Hassan (Kamal Hassan's daughter) and Tulasi (Radha's daughter), the director is now thinking to rope in Parthiban's daughter Keerthana.

Sources say that Mani Ratnam has short-listed a few names and Keethana's also features in that list. The filmmaker is yet to approach her but believes that she can fit the bill. Though the actors daughter is not popular, she has become a familiar face as she has been often spotted at many cinema related functions like audio release, music launch and première shows. It is noted that the actress has worked before in the filmmaker's earlier film Kannathil Muthamittal as a child artist, which bagged her National Award.

However, on Akshara Hassan and Tulasi's decisions to opt out of the film, sources claim that the former is currently concentrating on her filmmaking career and in the latter's case, her mother Radha is keen on stabilising her elder daughter Karthika's career.

Meanwhile, Karthik"s son Gautham, who is being launched by Mani Ratnam with this film, has started working on the project. The upcoming actor is visiting Chennai frequently for screen tests and preparing for his role with a lots of hope.