You said you came to Chennai with the script. How could you, who have had no experience in filmmaking, convince actors like Mammootty and Nandita Das?
My writing did the trick for me. I just sent my English script to Nandita Das, whom I didn't even know.
I was fascinated by her simple beauty, and I wanted only her as my Thulasi. I had seen only one of her films -- 1947 Earth.
She was impressed with the script and started talking to me. She felt comfortable with me because I was not talking 'film language.' We started talking like friends, and then both of us started our search for Viswam.