An actor, writer, director & producer who has an all-India appeal for his versatile movies. Madhavan is also a public speaker and is often seen giving motivational speeches in various institutions.
In college, Madhavan earned a scholarship to represent India as a cultural ambassador for a year in Canada for an exchange program with Rotary International. He came back and completed his graduation. He enrolled himself in NCC and became one of the best NCC cadets in Maharashtra.
He was one of the seven cadets who went to England to train with the British Royal Army, Royal Air force & Royal Navy. He wanted to join the Indian Air Force when he returned, but he exceeded the age limit by six months. He couldn’t join and felt a bit sour.
When Maddy was in college, he and his friends realized that they were short on pocket money. They saw that certain students from high-end colleges went to annual debates and public speaking competitions and got cash prizes from college. So they decided to make money that way.
Going to competitions in their regular clothes and chappals, nobody believed that they could perform. They won each competition they competed in. While everyone saw their pictures in newspapers, they were busy counting the money they had to collect.
Madhavan’s friends were discussing how much they were suffering because they couldn’t get a job during campus recruitments. As per them, they were good engineers, but language was creating hindrance, they weren’t good at English, and the interviewers didn’t know Marathi.
R Madhavan told them that the issue was with them, and he taught them basic but important things such as handshaking, phone etiquette, presentation in an interview, etc. He knew people in Tata, and he made a call to talk about language issues as well. They sent someone who knew Marathi to take interviews, and his friends got the jobs.
After that, Maddy started taking classes & helped people better themselves. He met Sarita in his class. She had an interview for an air hostess job, and she cleared it after taking his classes. To celebrate, she had asked him out for a thank-you dinner, which led to marital bliss after eight years of affair.
There used to be a show on Doordarshan called Khoobsurat, which featured the "model of the week" at the end of the show. The winner also got a hamper loaded with goodies. Sarita and his other friends asked Maddy to get pictures done and send them together. He rented a suit and got clicked near a church, road, and other such locations.
The photographer was his friend, so he wasn't charged money for that portfolio. He sent the pictures, and a month later, his pictures and name were featured as the "model of the week" in the show. There was another show Graveyard Man of The Year which had prize money of a Lakh. It was a competition of looks and intelligence, and he was 6th there. His only disappointment was for the money he could have used for a trip with friends.
Maddy returned to Mumbai to teach public speaking and communications when his friends encouraged him to try modeling to get money quickly for his office setup. He dropped his photos in an office for ad campaigns, and the next day he got a call for a TV serial.
R Madhavan became popular on TV when he did an ad campaign, and the director of the ad suggested him to Mani Ratnam. When Madhavan was called for a screen test, Mani liked his acting, but he told him his eyes looked too young for the character. He said he'd like to work with him on another project. And when they worked together, it was a cult classic film, and Madhavan has been making history in the industry ever since.
Maddy, in the beginning, did lover boy roles, so people called him chocolate boy. Women loved his cute looks when he didn’t even have a hairstylist or did much make-up till his first fifteen films. His good looks, coupled with his acting, made everyone his fan. He is fondly called Maddy and Balaji by his fans to show their love for him.
Being an NCC cadet, Maddy learned to be aware of his surroundings. He loves his profession, and in his free time, he researches new techniques on acting and other filmmaking nuances. He also notes that the generation is changing, his audience is evolving, and as per that, he adjusts. Such as now, he does roles that evade the chocolate boy image. He brings up subjects that would interest his audience, etc.
His director advised Maddy to hide his marital status as it could affect his popularity among women and might be bad for the film. He chose to tell people that he’s married and urged people to watch his film. He thought not telling it would be an insult to his wife.
He accompanied Sarita in the delivery room when she gave birth. He made the video of the whole event, and his respect for her grew post that event. Seeing Sarita so vulnerable made him spend time with her more postpartum.
R Madhavan is a member of PETA. He is a vegetarian and promotes the diet. He wrote a letter to KFC on behalf of PETA to urge them to stop animal cruelty & killing. He has won awards such as the Compassionate Kid Award and Person of the Year from PETA.
Madhavan actively participates in various charity events where he helps raise money for issues such as the renovation of Schools in Leh damaged by flash floods.
R Madhavan is a person whose work in the industry is phenomenal, and this is all because he works on himself, his movies with full dedication. He isn’t involved with a project for box office numbers. He’s there because he resonates with the film and its message.
