A couple of years ago, there was a rumour that 'Nishabdham' would be made with Taapsee Pannu as the heroine. Eventually, when the official word came in, Anushka Shetty's name was announced. How did the thriller slip out of Taapsee's hands and go to the 'Baahubali' actress?

Speaking in his latest interview to a portal, director Hemant Madhukar said, "Since I have known Taapsee for years, I briefly narrated the storyline of 'Nishabdham' to her on a couple of occasions. It was informal. After the story was developed, Kona Venkat garu (the film's writer) happened to meet Anushka ahead of a flight journey. Because the flight was getting delayed, he discussed the entire story in detail with Anushka, who totally loved it. Since she loved the story, we decided to go ahead with her."  The director had Taapsee in mind when he developed the storyline.

The film, starring R Madhavan as Anushka's pair, will stream on Amazon Prime from October 2. Anushka plays a mute and deaf artist named Sakshi in it.