Chennai, Oct 9 (IANS) Guess where film director Cheran got his latest heroine from? Not through a talent hunt contest on television, but from a recruitment centre for policewomen!

And guess how she was noticed? Because she had fainted!

Last week, when 21-year-old Sujatha was standing in queue on a hot afternoon to apply for a policewoman's job at the city's Rajarathinam Stadium -- she fainted. She was just one among the 25,000 young women applying for a job.
 
A green belt holder in karate, this graduate from Chennai wanted to join the police force where her grandfather had worked.

Cameramen from the local media clicked furiously as the beauty fainted under a blazing sun.

Next morning, her face was splashed across the papers.

As luck would have it, Cheran was on the lookout for a new face for his next film. Over his morning cup of coffee, he spotted Sujatha's picture and found her face just right.
 
A few days later, an assistant director came knocking on Sujatha's door at the railway employees' colony and asked her father Balaji if he would let her act.
 
"I have agreed to let her try out being a film star, though she has wanted to be a policewoman since she was in class two," said Balaji.

According to the family, Cheran makes "decent films".

Sujatha, who never in her wildest dreams thought of becoming a star, now has to pass the screen test.
 
Meanwhile, the police recruitment board failed her because she fainted.