Popular T’town star Samantha Ruth Prabhu, got a rude shock recently when she was rejected by none other than Mani Ratnam, one of the most highly regarded filmmakers in Indian cinema.

The dusky actress started her career in Tamil with a movie called Moscowin Kaveri which sank without a trace.

After that she migrated to Tollywood where her luck changed and she had a hat-trick of hits, including the recent Dookudu.

If reports are to be believed, the Ye Maya Chesave girl gave a screen test for the maverick director Mani’s upcoming romantic film, which features veteran actor Karthik’s teenage son Gautham in the lead.

Sources say that Sam did a photo shoot with cinematographer Rajiv Menon and after seeing the results, Mani was not too happy and wanted to rethink his decision to cast her in his flick.

It came as a major disappointment to Samantha, who was hoping to get a foothold in Tamil filmdom. But Sam needn’t be too upset since the director seems to have set his standards high.

We hear he auditioned a few others too, including Karthika and a close relative of his wife Suhasini, but wasn’t impressed and is still on the lookout for a heroine. Attempts to contact Samantha proved futile.