Sai Pallavi of Premam (Malayalam) fame was roped in by Mani Ratnam to play the female lead in his forthcoming romantic film. However, he has since dropped her and is keen on replacing her with a Mumbai-based actress, whose name is not yet disclosed. Karthi is the male lead.

Sources say that Mani Ratnam felt that a little more matured actress will be a better option for the heroine's role. Sai Pallavi is learnt to be not OK with performing some intimate scenes with the hero as demanded by the script. Hence both the filmmaker and the actress have parted ways after an understanding.

The shooting of the yet to be titled film is expected to begin in the month of September. Oscar winner A.R.Rahman will score the music while Cinematographer Ravivarman will be teaming up with the director for the first time for this film.

The film will be produced by Mani Ratnam under his Madras Talkies banner