Mani Ratnam to launch Akshara Hassan?

With his older daughter, actor Shruti Haasan’s entry into films —Bollywood and the South, it’s now veteran South actor Kamal Haasan’s younger daughter’s turn to make a debut in films. And, if rumours are to be believed, ace director Mani Ratnam is going to be the one to launch Akshara Hassan.

Akshara is not totally new to this field. She started out by assisting filmmaker Rahul Dholakia and now seems all set to get into acting. Says a source, “Akshara is really keen on getting into acting and who better than Mani Ratnam to make a debut with? Though there is not much information on the film, it’s likely to be a love story.  The male protagonist’s role has not been decided yet.”

Akshara, who’s said to be a splitting image of her mother, actor Sarika, was initially not very sure about taking on acting. But after much deliberation over the matter, she has finally decided to take the plunge. Meanwhile,  Ratnam is currently busy with his next big budget bilingual film Kadal. The film has also been touted to be South actor Arvind Swamy’s (of Roja fame) comeback vehicle.

Though none of the parties have confirmed it yet, the source insists that they’ll make a formal announcement soon. “They are keeping it under wraps, because it’s too early to talk about the film. But Akshara has already agreed to the contract and will soon sign it,” said the source.

Other star-kids who assisted a filmmaker before turning actors were Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor, who assisted filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali. They later made their acting debut in Bhansali’s Saawariya.