 Malayalam actor @-@ director <unk> Sukumaran Nair was cast as a college principal . Bharath Gopi , who later became a major actor in the Malayalam film industry , made his film debut in Swayamvaram , doing a minor role as the dismissed factory employee who gets replaced by Madhu . Gopi was a noted stage actor before Swayamvaram and would later play the lead role in Gopalakrishnan 's second feature film , <unk> , which earned him a reputation as one of the finest actors in Indian cinema and also inspired his screen name as " Bharath Gopi " or " <unk> Gopi " . He won a Best Actor award , then known as " Bharat Award " , for the role at the 25th National Film Awards in 1977 . 
