The film, designed as a big romantic musical to give the Kannada heartthrob the right start in Bollywood, goes on floors in September, provided a suitable leading lady is found at this late stage.

"Everything was finalised. Diganth, who is a major star in Karnataka, has all the makings of a national star thanks to his Rajasthani background and his pan-India look," says a source close to the project.

"The producers P.J. Singh (of "London Dreams") and director Mani Shankar (of "Knockout") wanted to launch Diganth with a pretty fragile girl who would be able to look physically correct with the 28-year Kannada star. Prachi was finalised," he adds.

And then suddenly Prachi informed the makers that she was no longer doing the film, thereby creating panic.

Says the source, "A lot of resources have gone into pre-production. Diganth has been training to be equipped to take on competition from Ranbir Kapoor and Imran Khan. Everything was in place. But now the project is without a leading lady."

Incidentally, this is Prachi's second such misadventure with a southern leading man. Earlier, she opted out unceremoniously from the Tamil film "Thaidaiyaara Thaka", leaving the project high and dry at the last minute.

It is unclear what could have prompted Prachi to be so unprofessional with an established actor down south.