'U-Turn' fame Shraddha teams up with Nivin Pauly

Chennai: Shraddha Srinath, who made a splash with her impeccable performance in Pawan Kumar's latest Kannada thriller "U-Turn", will be playing the lead opposite Nivin Pauly in his next Tamil film. It is slated to go on the floors next month.

Debutant director Gautham Ramachandran, after months of auditioning, zeroed in on Shraddha, as he felt she was apt for the role of a crime reporter in the film, which will be based on critically acclaimed Rakshit Shetty-directed "Ulidavaru Kandanthe".

"Shraddha was one of the first girls I met during the auditions. Although I felt she seemed perfect for the role, we decided to audition a few more girls. Over the course of nearly five months, we auditioned several girls but nobody fit the role as convincingly as Shraddha," Gautham, erstwhile assistant of filmmakers Mysskin and Rajeev Menon, told IANS.

"The second time we met Shraddha; she came well prepared and had even memorized her lines. In the second audition, she just proved she was destined to do the role and we were convinced too," he said.

The film's producers weren't initially gung-ho about the idea.

"They wanted a familiar heroine and a few well-known actresses were also interested to be part of the project. As a team when we saw Shraddha audition the second time, we were convinced she'd be ideal for the role. Nivin was very supportive with my decision."

Shraddha, a lawyer by profession, has already worked in two Kannada films and a Malayalam film. It's with "U-Turn”; she stole the limelight and has caught the attention of filmmakers.

The rest of the cast is being finalized.