Sai Pallavi has credited director Rajkumar Periasamy for helping her step into the role of an IPS officer in Om: Chapter 1 – Udhiram: The Blood Wood. Speaking at the film's audio launch in Chennai on Friday, the actor said Periasamy had greater confidence in her ability to pull off the character than she had herself.

Sai Pallavi first recalled an amusing connection between her previous film, Amaran, and her experience of working with Mammootty in Om. “In my previous film, I kept hearing the name Mammootty, and now I have ended up acting alongside Mammootty sir. I don't know if I manifested it,” she said.

Recalling how she had expressed her interest in collaborating with the filmmaker after Amaran, Sai Pallavi said she had already made her intentions clear about being part of his next project. “I told him during the previous film that I wanted to be part of his next one. I had already reserved a spot for myself, so to speak. But he really made it happen. He believed in my police role more than I did,” she said.

The actor also thanked the team behind the film's stunt sequences, describing the experience of performing them as a memorable one. She went on to praise Periasamy's approach to writing women characters, adding that her role in Om had several layers. “He is every actress's dream director. The way he writes his women characters is amazing,” she said.