Till one watches Irudhi Suttru in Tamil or Saala Khadoos in Hindi – releasing this month-end, it is tad difficult to imagine the well-mannered chocolate boy Madhavan as an angry retired coach. The extreme politeness with which he turns down questions is also so endearing that you wonder where will he hide his dimpled smile that sets hearts aflutter to become a fierce task master?
He returns his famous smile and assures, “this will be a landmark film of the year and one of my quite unforgettable roles.”
Still sporting a bit of his rugged look, actor Maddy, as he is fondly called, says if he has lost anything it is the 18.5 inches biceps that he trained so meticulously to build over 18 months. “To have that kind of body is any man’s dream,” he laughs, but I had to shed it within three months for my role in Tanu Weds Manu Returns (TWMR)!
“It is not easy to lose or gain weight,” he reminds. “The diet and the exercise regime should be compatible with your body or else you end up with wrinkles and hair loss.” Sheer dedication, determination and discipline led him through.
Now on an intensive tour of small towns across Tamil Nadu to promote Irudhi Suttru , Madhavan says people are much more discerning and smarter today. “To coax them to go to the theatre, the film should have an aspiration quality,” he feels and that is why he has chosen to visit cities and directly connect with local channels to reach out to larger sections of the people in the interiors and tell them about the film. “This tour is unlike other film promotions in the South,” he asserts. “My publicity budget is Rs.9 crore and I will be killed if I talk about anything else right now,” he says after reaching Madurai from Chennai where the music album was launched on Monday.
Though his commitment to the role of a retired and demanding boxing coach in Saala Khadoos cannot be doubted, Madhavan does not hesitate to share, that apart from his challenging role, the film also rediscovers woman power. Directed by debutante Sudha Kongara Prasad, a former assistant of Mani Ratnam and Ritika Singh, a real life sportsperson (an international kick-boxer) playing the female lead role, add to the film’s inspirational value.
“This is the first time I worked with a woman director and found Sudha to be extremely accurate. She knew exactly what she wanted and got it out of us,” he says fondly.
Though it belongs to the sports film genre, says Madhavan, the audiences will find the multiple layers of emotions at work and the lessons of life learnt the hard way very appealing. The Hindi version is partly produced by him along with Raju Hirani and both the language versions have been customised for the audiences in the North and the South. “I feel pregnant with twins,” he says.
Isn’t Saala Khadoos kind of a negative word? Madhavan vehemently disagrees. “It is actually a term of endearment,” he asserts. “When someone gets after you for good results and once you reach that level of achievement because of that person’s endurance and push, you finally end up loving that person no matter howsoever much you may have disliked him before,” he explains. And that is when you call him Saala Khadoos! It is somewhat like the title Three Idiots , when the idiots – perceived as a negative term – ended up being loved by all for their well-meaning thoughts and work.
Love is something Madhavan gives and receives in abundance. If people loved him in TWMR and made it into a blockbuster entertainer with global box office collections crossing Rs.200 crore, as an actor he finds himself in a happier space with Saala Khadoos.
And of course, there is also his Hollywood film, “ In the Night of the Living Dead ” in post-production stages. Though Madhavan modestly says, the film directed by Simon West, happened by sheer luck, it was his performance in Three Idiots that fetched him one of the four lead roles of a US marine officer caught in a zombie attack in New York.
But in real life what he can’t get over is the amazing spirit of the people of Chennai caught in the recent floods. I have seen Mumbai floods but here in Chennai, the way people -- and particularly the youths -- stood up for the city in face of adversity is unprecedented, he says.
If in times of crisis, smiling faces could ride the waves of misery, Madhavan feels his bilingual Irudhi Suttru/Saala Khadoos will help the people continue the winter celebrations much after Pongal/Lohri. And, he hopes to live up to the expectations of those who love him.
