 K. P. A. C. Lalitha , who would later play notable characters in many of Gopalakrishnan 's films , played a small role as a prostitute in Swayamvaram . Noted Malayalam writer and journalist Vaikom Chandrasekharan Nair played a newspaper editor in the film . Gopalakrishnan praised him for his performance , expressing the difficulties of performing as oneself onscreen . 
