Some of actor-filmmaker Madhavan’s most memorable roles came in the films of his mentor and acclaimed filmmaker Mani Ratnam. The duo share a warm sense of camaraderie that always comes through when they talk about each other. Mani Ratnam introduced Madhavan as a lead actor in the Tamil film, Alaipayuthey. The film, which was released in 2000, went on to establish Madhavan as a romantic hero, and it determined the course of his brand of films. Even though he tried to shift tracks, and star in action films like Run, it was Mani Ratnam, who, once again, gave Madhavan’s career a course correction of sorts. Talking to India TV about Aayitha Ezhuthu, his third consecutive collaboration with Mani Ratnam, Madhavan spoke about how the course correction was something of his own doing.
Revealing that Mani Ratnam wanted him to play the role essayed by Siddharth, Madhavan said that he outrightly rejected the part because he didn’t want to play a lover boy all over again. “I heard the story, and I told him that I wanted to play the role of Inba. When asked why I chose the character, I candidly told him that it was the best role in the story, and the others would be forgotten. He was offended by my statement,” said Madhavan, who added that the filmmaker wasn’t interested to make him play Inba.
Madhavan revealed that he asked for a month’s time to convince the filmmaker that he had it in him to play the role, which was being essayed by Abhishek Bachchan in the Hindi version of the film, titled Yuva. “I shaved my hair off, played golf without sunscreen to get super tanned, and I had become utterly recognisable. In that look, I went to his office, and was stopped by his security because they didn’t recognise me,” said Madhavan, who said that once they recognised him, they brought him in to meet the Raavan filmmaker.
“The security people told him that someone he knew had come to meet him. Mani sir was upset that someone came home unannounced, and saw me standing there. He didn’t realise it was me till I started smiling unable to hold in my laughter,” said Madhavan, adding that Mani Ratnam just looked at him for a while, and asked if he indeed wanted to play the part. “I said yes, and just asked him the backstory of Inba. Mani sir just said that Inba is a tough guy with a bad childhood, and is almost like an animal.”
Explaining how he got into the skin of the character, Madhavan said that he found inspiration from National Geographic Channel. “I saw a pack of lions chasing down a deer. Even when they were chasing, pouncing, choking the throat of the deer, and tearing it apart, the lions never showed anger. Despite being a violent act, it was just another lunch for the lion. There was no anger, wrath, excitement. The lion had absolute peace in his eyes. That’s when I got what Mani sir wanted from Inba,” said Madhavan, who has worked with Mani Ratnam in a couple of other films like Kannathil Muththamittaal, and Guru. “It is this synergy with him that pushed me as an actor. After Guru, we decided to take a break. Since most of my successful films were attributed to Mani sir, I wanted to create a path of my own… find my own route.”
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Madhavan, who recently starred in the Zee5 film, Hisaab Barabar, has an interesting 2025 lined up, kickstarting with Netflix’s Test, which also stars Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, and Nayanthara. He will also be seen playing a pivotal role in Kesari Chapter 2, which is expected to hit screens on April 18.
