Apparently, ‘Dabangg’ beauty Sonakshi Sinha was the first choice to play Rajini’s love interest in the film. But the veteran actor’s family was not okay with the idea of Sona playing Rajini’s lover, for she is their family friend Shatrughan Sinha’s daughter.

Shotgun and Rajini have been thick friends since they acted together in ‘Asli Naqli’ way back in 1986.

Talking to a daily, a source said, "Naturally Rajinikanth`s family was not keen that the superstar romances Sonakshi, who is an old family friend`s daughter. So the idea to cast Sonakshi was nixed even before it became public and Deepika landed the role.”

Directly or indirectly, Sona was responsible for making Dips win a role in ‘Rana’. So is Deepika happy with this fact, for she knows she is senior to Sona, who is just one film old!

What say Dips?