R Madhavan has been in the news with his recent role in Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar, which has grabbed a lot of attention. The actor has now opened up about how he had to take a break from acting early in his career and rearrange the roles he liked.
R Madhavan on his 4 year acting hiatus
Speaking to Unfiltered Entertainment, R Madhavan said, “Before Saala Khadoos, I had to take a break because I was so disappointed with the kind of work I was doing. I was shooting for a Tamil song in Switzerland wearing orange pants and a green shirt. I was standing in the middle of the road when I saw a Swiss farmer sitting there, looking at us with complete disdain, drinking a cup of tea and thinking That’s what we’re doing. I looked at him and thought, ‘You come to Chennai, and I’ll show you who I am.'”
He further added, “I was really hurt, but then I suddenly realized that I was literally dancing to other people’s tunes. I am a public speaker, I know how to shoot guns, remotely fly planes, ride horses and do a lot of things. Yet I was not showing any of this in my films. The only thing I was trying to do was to woo the audience to become a superstar. I realized what a mistake I was making.”
Madhavan said that at one time even the characters he was playing were flawed. He explained that he played roles such as an uneducated, hungry village man and pointed out that neither he nor Arvind Swamy (referring to his character in Thani Oruvan) looked uneducated or hungry, making such portrayals unrealistic. He further explained that his wife once asked him what was wrong with him and remarked that it seemed as if he went to work and returned from there, a comment which made him stop and think, and a comment which meant a lot to him.
After this realization, the actor decided to take a break from acting. During this period, he traveled extensively, also stopped acting in advertisements, grew a beard and interacted with common people.
After the break, Madhavan revealed that he has gained more clarity about life. He said that when he returned, he realized that the filmmakers he was working with were not as visionary as him, as their stories were still focused on impressing their mentors. This realization inspired him to seek out and collaborate with new directors.
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