Thursday Jul 30 2009, Bangalore

Praneetha in 'Pokiri' remake

Bangalore-girl Praneetha has been chosen to play the female lead in 'Porki', a remake of Telugu superhit 'Pokiri'. Darshan will reprise the title role played by Mahesh Babu.

Praneetha was supposed to have made her debut in an Indrajith Lankesh film much earlier. But somehow the project didn't take off. Later, she was zeroed in for the film 'Bisile' opposite Diganth, but she was replaced by Jennifer Kotwal. She was also considered for the role of heroine in Yogaraj Bhatt's 'Lagori', starring Puneeth Rajkumar. That film also didn't take off. She has also offers from Telugu, but sources say Praneetha wanted to make her debut through a Kannada venture.

Praneetha says, "I had decided that my entry into films should be through a Kannada one. When a big actor like Darshan is the hero, I could not have asked for a better debut."