TANU WEDS MANU RETURNS | Updates - Look back with Madhavan Pg33 - Page 16

R Madhavan, 44, came to be popularly known as Maddy after he played the character of Madhav Shastri in one of his films in which he was lovingly called Maddy. He is shameless about expressing his emotions, moody and astute, with strong likes and dislikes.

He could be adamant at times, but considers himself a sucker for good manners and good human beings. He enjoys being alone and lives in his world of imagination, but if he is hooked onto something, he needs to see it to the end before he ditches it. He loves animals and gizmos of all kinds, but nothing more than his wife Sarita. In an hour-long conversation just ahead of his upcoming romantic comedy Tanu Weds Manu Returns, he talks to us about the genius of Raju Hirani, why being loyal to his wife is the easier choice and the invaluable advice of Mani Ratnam. Excerpts:

How did you become an actor?
Not intentionally. I am a Tambrahm born and brought up in Jamshedpur 20 years of my life, as my father worked for the Tatas there. My mother was a chief manager in the Bank of India and the only lady manager in Bihar in those times. So I was brought up like any other Tambrahm guy, who wanted to join IIT, IIM and come back to join Tata Steel. But in Class XI, I got a Rotary scholarship where I went under an exchange program to Canada and stayed with cowboys there. I would literally go to school horse riding there. I then did my B.Sc Electronics from Kolhapur. While in Kolhapur, I had joined NCC with the sole purpose of getting to go back to Canada under another exchange program, but got selected among the 22 best cadets of India to give the guard of honour to the President on Republic Day and was sent under an exchange program to England. I realised in Kolhapur that I could teach public speaking and personality development skills due to my exposure and started taking classes on the terrace. These classes became a hit so much so that I started making serious money from them and came to Mumbai to do a post graduation in public speaking and PR from KC College with the sole objective of teaching post that. It was at Kolhapur that I first met my wife Sarita, who had come to my class with her cousin and finally felt that she got a job as an air hostess due to attending them. In Mumbai, someone said to me, 'Why don't you give your photographs to an agency? You can make quick money as a model.' I didn't become a model but was chosen to do a TV serial on Zee and landed up doing 1,800 episodes and got overexposed, but also I was the only TV actor who was getting endorsements. For one of the ads, the cameraman happened to be Santosh Sivan who finally recommended me to Mani Ratnam sir, who gave me my first break in a Tamil film in 2000. My younger sister Devika was a Kuchipudi dancer, so my family always imagined that she would be the artiste and me, the technician in the family. But it turned out to be just the opposite.

Who do you love the most in the world?
My wife Sarita. She understands me completely, keeps me totally grounded and is also my complete foil who takes care of my son, my parents and my finances. She gives me the complete freedom that I so desire to be an effective actor. She is used to my temper and follies and is fearless in telling me how good or bad I am. She never actually expresses how hard she works for me and for the sake of the family and never expects credit for it. She is more of a child to my parents than I am and they adore her. I am very lucky to have her in my life.

In an industry, where most married actors indulge in extra- marital affairs, how have you remained so faithful to your wife?
I think it's the easy way out to remain loyal. There are other aspects of my life that I need to put my energies in. Also, I think to be loyal is a family trait. My entire family till the end of their lives remained so loyal to Jamsetji Tata that we actually had a photo of his, along with all the Gods with the mala. So honestly, I will have to go out of my way to not be loyal. Also at the end of the day, I am that darpok Madrasi middle-class man and while I am extremely attracted to attractive girls, at the end of the day, I balance off going back home and cuddling my wife as opposed to giving an excuse on why I am not there. So from the beginning of our relationship, she did not even have to ask, my mobiles are always with her and my accounts are always with her. Mani Ratnam gave me an advice on how not to have to test relationships. He said, 'When there is something going good with a relationship, don't keep testing it to see how much she loves you. Just let it be.' Sometimes testing is the thing that spoils everything. So when I became a star in Tamil and had this crazy girl following, I was the first one to announce that I was married even though I was advised against it. I would open all my girl fan mail along with Sarita. I would insist on taking her for any exotic outdoor shoots not because I wanted her to know that I am loyal, but I didn't want to test myself. Over a period of time, it became a habit and it worked for me. And I think she too likes the fact that I am sorted, that I don't mince my words and that she does not have to guess what I am trying to imply with what I say or do.

Which was the lowest period in your life?
The last three years have been the toughest for me. I had become a guy who was fat, lumpy and boring in my eyes. My acting had become pathetic. There was no spark in me and I had become complacent. Success or the lack of it has a way to make you realise what your boundaries are. So I knew that either I had to fumble, fall and stagnate or take that leap and create that fire again. My wife was amazing. She said, 'Maddy, I can see that you have become bored with your work, so unless we come back to our one bed room apartment in Mumbai, I won't be worrying.' So I decided to take a break, cut off all appearances, films and endorsements and wanted to test if after doing 45 films, I had any of those genuine emotions left. In Chennai I was a big star and yet I decided to take a small taxi to go meet producers alone, instead of hiring a big car or going with my entourage as I wanted to test myself on whether I was still capable of being vulnerable to emotions of people mocking at you. I have no one in the industry. I wish I had someone from my family in the industry who would watch my back and say, 'Hey your money is safe or this is how you should dress and this is what you should do.' It took me 15 years of being in the industry to know that you need makeup and styling when you go out, that you need to have PR. I didn't have anyone who would sit me down and say yeh karo bhaiyya.

It's rare in the film industry to find someone as educated as you.
Kangana in my opinion is extremely educated.There is a difference between being educated and academics. I may be able to express myself in English that may give you an impression that I am educated. But there are many many more people who possess this essential quality to survive in this industry. Finesse, in fact, at times comes in my way. Having been brought up in Bihar, I can sit and have bidi on the ground like a Bihari and can speak Hindi better than most actors do in the industry and I am very cocky about it. But it's when someone who can have a bidi, wears a suit and speaks in English as well that you become aspirational for your audience.

Do you have friends in the industry?
Raju Hirani, Bipasha Basu and Shilpa Shetty. I am a sucker for niceness and he is not just nice, he is a genius. And his humility is almost embarrassing compared to all that he has achieved. I admire him. Shilpa was the first person who told me, 'Why don't you take care of your looks?' She would take it upon herself to invite me to her parties and make me meet people. With Bipasha, you see what you get. She is boisterous and a complete Bengali. I think I also get along a lot with people who get along with my wife and all of them do.

Talk about working with Kangana Ranaut?
She is a complete challenge to work with and can quickly transform more than the character that is written on the script. For the sake of the film and your own sake, you can't treat her like most of the other actresses and you need to ensure that you don't drop it when she has really pitched it up for you. She and I have not really interacted outside the set socially. For some reason actually it has always been like that with all my heroines.

You are working again with Aanand L Rai in Tanu Weds Manu Returns?
He is an angel. He is one of those guys who is completely in love with people he works with unconditionally. He gives, is very smart and knows how to bring you back in a nice way, in case you are pushing the boundaries. His team adores him. Also, he is one of the finest directors in the country with the sole ability to make actors do magic for him on screen.

Mani Ratnam gave you your first break. What does he mean to you?
I love the fact that he is fiercely possessive about anything close to him. That he is so sure about who he is and if he falters, he gets up royally, dusts himself again and starts moving. Also, he is the only director in India who has mastered so many different genres. I remember after him giving me my first break I sent him an email thanking him. And he wrote back these four lines: 'I didn't do it for you. I did it as I thought you were good for the film. Don't misplace your gratitude. You should also be like this.' That's Mani Ratnam for you.