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Number of days

According to the actor, when he took on the show, he had made it clear that he would continue with his south film assignments.

"I always work on one film at a time. I was told I would be required to shoot for only six days a month, for Deal Ya No Deal. But I ended up shooting for several more days. I was willing to give up 10 days, but things were just not working out."

The ever-changing look of the show meant Madhavan had to constantly rehearse. "They wanted to revamp the show, and I had to spend one entire day doing only doing technical rehearsals," he adds.

Travel time

Accustomed to the southern style of functioning, where everything is timed to clockwork precision and the vagaries of television shoots was not something the actor had bargained for.

"I was willing to provide up to 10 days, but, that too was not sufficient," he adds. Moreover, as Madhavan is Chennai-based, the constant travelling took up a lot of time.

Fantastic experience

Viewers will continue to see Madhavan in the next couple of episodes of Deal Ya No Deal, as these have been shot earlier. On the Hind film front, he features in the Aamir Khan starrer, Rang De Basanti.

Looking back at his stint as anchor, he says the experience was fantastic. "I enjoyed interacting with the participants," says Madhavan, who was asked by Sony to turn anchor on the game show. "I had appeared in one episode of Fame Gurukul; they liked me in it and offered me Deal Ya No Deal."

There were also some testing times, like when he shot for the show immediately after the funeral of his grandfather.

As reported in "Madhavan's crisis shoot" (hitList, December 17), the actor had to report to shoot immediately after his grandfather's funeral, as a celebrity year-end special episode with several telly stars was being canned.

Desi version

Deal Ya No Deal, which went on air in November, is the desi version of the internationally known game show, Deal or No Deal. The reality show tests an individual's ability in making the right choices.

The contestant faces 22 cash boxes, containing cheques varying from a small amount to Rs 10 million.

Without knowing the amount, the contestant picks one box. The show is shot at a studio in MIDC, Andheri (E), and has episodic and celebrity guests, besides the aam janta, as participants.

shaheen@mid-day.com