Chennai, Jun 14 (IANS): Cinematographer-actor Natty aka Natraj Subramaniam plays the second lead in Nivin Pauly-starrer yet-untitled Tamil project which is being directed by debutant Gautham Ramachandran.

"Natraj is officially on board. It was after much deliberation that we roped him in because a lot of popular artistes were interested to do this role. We even considered actor-filmmaker Sasikumar at first, but felt he might be predictable in the character," Gautham told IANS.

Currently on the floors in Manapad, a coastal village of south India, the film is based on Kannada thriller "Ulidavaru Kandanthe".

"We went with Natraj primarily because we wanted an actor who is way past his prime age. We wanted someone who has very little pre-conceived notion from the audiences' point of view. Once he came on board, we even reworked on the script," he said.

While Nivin Pauly is yet to join the sets, Gautham has been shooting some initial portion of the film.

Asked if his film is titled "Santa Maria" -- as media reports have suggested -- he said: "We haven't finalised a title yet. This is just one of the titles under consideration. We plan to officially announce the title soon".

Shraddha Srinath plays the female lead while the rest of the cast is yet to be finalised.