Apparently, director Shankar is running after the heroines, who were selected by Maniratnam for his movies. Following observation gives you clear picture on this statement.
* Maniratnam's 'Roja' was released in the year 1992. Madhubala was the heroine of this movie. Later, Madhubala acted as the female lead of the movie 'Gentleman' in the direction of Shankar and the movie was released in the year, 1993.
* Maniratnam's 'Iddaru' was released in the year, 1997. Ishwarya Roy was the female lead of the movie. Later, she was seen opposite to Prashanth in the movie 'Jeans' directed by Shankar. The movie was released in the year, 1998.
* Manisha Koirala was the heroine of Shankar's 'Oke Okkadu', which was released in the year, 1999. Earlier, she was acted in the direction of Maniratnam for the movie 'Bombai', released in the year, 1995.
* Maniratnam's bollywood flick 'Guru' was released in the year, 2007 and Ishwarya Roy was the heroine of this movie. Subsequently, she was seen opposite to Rajni Kanth for the movie 'Robo' directed by Shankar. This movie was released in the year, 2010.
* And now, Maniratnam selected Samantha as the lead actress for his latest project 'Kadal'(Tamil). Strangely, Shankar too selected her as the heroine for his next movie ''Therdhal'.(Tamil). Both the movies will be dubbed in Telugu as well.
P.S.: Maybe because of co-incidences or deliberate attempts, Shankar is following the footsteps of Maniratnam in selecting the heroines for his movies.