Gearing up for the release of his thriller flick "Papanasam", which also features his partner Gautami, actor Kamal Hassan has said that "I felt guilty when I saw the rushes half way through that I had kept a good actress locked at home". According to a report in The New Indian Express, Gautami is returning to the silver screen after close to seventeen years. The actors have been in a relationship for about ten years now and Hassan had more to say about his co-star. "I'm saying this not out of personal interest but as a fan. She has really excelled herself by coming back to the screen now," he reportedly said. Gautami had taken a self-imposed hiatus in 1998 after Seeman's "Iniyavale" and hadn’t appeared in a full-length-feature since then. The 46-year-old actor had also successfully battled breast-cancer in the interim. For Gautami, comparisons will be made with Meena, the actor who essayed the same role in the original "Drishyam", of which Papanasam is a remake. Hassan, who has acted with both the ladies, says that Gautami is a "top actress". "It's up to her about when she wants to act. I can assure you it won't be in my next because the cast has been fixed for that already," he said.