Chocolate boy Madhavan has come a long way from his Alai Payude days. He has metamorphosed in to a fine actor trying out various roles across the spectrum successfully. Close on the heels of the success of Yavarum Nalam and Guru En Aalu, Maddy speaks out

Q: Congratulations for the back to back success of Yaavarum Nalaam and Guru En Aalu.

Madhavan: Thank you so much. I would also like to thank all my fans for making both my movies a grand success.

Q: How do you feel about the double success of Yaavarum nalam and its Hindi version 13B?

Madhavan: I am extremely thrilled, as we started off on a shaky foot in Mumbai with a very mediocre first week collection but by the second week the collections almost doubled and the movie was proclaimed a hit. In Tamil, Yaavarum nalam got a thunderous opening and has become one of my biggest hits in Tamil. So, I am very happy and I could not have asked for a better result for my film.

    
Q: Your comment on 13B getting remade in Hollywood?

Madhavan: I am very proud of the fact that I was instrumental in making the movie happen. But the key factor was the director as he was very sure of what he wanted right from the story discussion till the release date. I trusted him completely and I feel that he is a great story teller.

Q: From being a ‘romantic’ specialist to ‘horror’ specialist-Why the genre shift?

Madhavan: It is a journey of an actor; only the crowd and the people outside are mesmerized by the genre. For me, I don’t have any favourites as I want to do all kinds of roles and each and every one of them would be as important as any other. Hence either horror or romance or thriller I will always do my roles with utmost intensity.  

   
Q:  Have you shifted completely to horror as the very next release in Tamil for you is Naan Aval Adhu?

Madhavan: It is just a co-incidence. As I had said earlier, the role and the story should captivate me and not the genre. But I am still unsure about the release date of Naan aval adhu and would like to comment on it only when the release dates are fixed.

Q:  Now that you have shifted your base to Mumbai, does that mean Tamil cinema is a complete no-no for the time being?

Madhavan: First and foremost there is never a strict no-no for anything in life. Secondly, the reason for my shifting to Mumbai is to be closer to my family and also for the fact that I am doing almost three Hindi movies back to back. My Tamil films would be continuing as before, except for the fact that I would be more careful in choosing my directors and producers and the kind of scripts. I would not be doing a movie every three months in Tamil but come up with one or two quality movies a year.

Q:  With you giving one of the best movies in 2008 in Hindi in the form of Mumbai Mere Jaan, What can we expect in 2009 from Madhavan for Bollywood?

Madhavan: I guess I have already given the best films in 2009 in the form of 13B (laughs). But I also have three more movies lined up which I am equally upbeat about. They are Sikandar, Teen patti and Three idiots.

Q:  So what kind of Maddy can we expect in this line up?

Madhavan: Sikandar is next up, and it is again thriller and not a supernatural one though. Set in Kashmir, it is about two kids who lose their innocence because of the violence happening over there. And I play an army officer in that movie. Next is Teen patti where I am playing a professor in a college and in Three Idiots (smiling) of-course I play a student.

Q:  As per the sources your role in Sikandar has some negative shades. Is that true?

Madhavan: I don’t think I am negative at all (smiles). But it is again, something you will have to see it on the screen to know. I can’t tell you that.

Q:  With Hindi audience quite familiar with the horror genre did you think the Tamil audience would be ready to lap up such a varied genre?

Madhavan: I think the audiences are more intelligent than we credit them with. And with Yaavarum Nalam the publicity was also not that extensive, it was just an average publicity but the quality of it was very good. And the people were able to smell a good film from far away, so there is no point in blaming the audience for not liking different genre movies. You can blame them only for not coming to the theatres and preferring pirated discs. Apart from that they are very perceptive and they are able to decide a movie from a distance and therefore we get a genuine opening.

    
Q:  How is it working with Aamir Khan in Three idiots?

Madhavan: It is a fantastic experience, it is just a continuation of Rang de basanti, and we are having some great time together.
Thank you so much.

Interviewer: Harish. Courtesy: behindwoods.