South sensation Lakshmi Rai plays the lead in actor-director Lawrence Raghavendra's forthcoming Tamil film, Kanchana. The film is a sequel to Lawerence's horror flick Muni. According to reports the lead role was first offered to Anushka, but due to her lack of interest, the producers signed model turned actor Lakshmi Rai for the project. Lawrence and Lakshmi Rai have earlier worked in Irumbu Kottai Murattu Singam. Lawerence said: "After much deliberation, Kanchana has gone on the floors. I've put in a lot of groundwork and am happy to have started work on the project finally. According to the director: "Kanchana will be entirely different from Muni and even more entertaining." Lakshmi Rai rose to fame with popular films such as Annan Thambi, 2 Harihar Nagar , Chattambinadu and Evidam Swargamanu. The film has music by Thaman S.