Kozhikode, Dec 26 (IANS) Film director Anwar Rasheed and his team have found twins to act in their new Malayalam film 'Annan Thambi' after weeks of searching.

Ten-year-old Sonu and Monu are the lucky brothers who will portray the childhood of superstar Mammootty, who appears in a double role in the film.

The twins, sons of Sam John and Lissy Sam, hail from Kozhencherry in Pathanamthitta district, 200 km north of Thiruvananthapuram. They were selected after the film team screened 157 pairs of twins at Kozhikode and Kochi.

The first screening was held in Kochi Dec 9. The second selection round was in Kozhikode Dec 22.

'One hundred and twenty seven pair of twins came for screening in Kochi. At Kozhikode we had around 30 pairs of twins,' said Alex E. Kurian, the production executive for the film.

'We went for the selection tests after we saw an advertisement in a newspaper. The children are very keen about acting. They used to take part in mimicry programmes in their school,' said Lissy.

'The twins were asked to act certain themes and also to present their artistic skills at the screening test,' said Alex.

'The shooting will start Jan 5 at Pollachi in Tamil Nadu. It will be released to coincide with Kerala's Vishu festival in April,' said Alex.