 <unk> wanted fresh faces for both the lead roles and he had written letters to various heads of colleges and universities for the auditions . However , he did not receive any response from anywhere . For the female lead , Gopalakrishnan approached Sharada , one of the most successful actresses of her time . She was acting in commercial films when Gopalakrishnan asked her to star in Swayamvaram . Sharada was initially reluctant to commit herself to an art film , but agreed when Gopalakrishnan narrated the complete story to her at Prasad Studios , in Chennai . The male lead for the film , Madhu , was an old friend of Gopalakrishnan and had expressed a desire to act in one of his films . By the time Gopalakrishnan finished his studies and returned from FTII , Madhu was already a star in Malayalam cinema . Gopalakrishnan then decided to cast him opposite Sharada . Mentioning about his experience working with Gopalakrishnan and Swayamvaram , Madhu recollected in an interview that " [ ... ] when Gopalakrishnan narrated the story of Swayamvaram , I knew it was going to be different . " Years later he also mentioned that he " sometimes wished Prem Nazir had acted in Adoor 's Swayamvaram . He might have won a Bharath award . But he was very busy those days . " 
