R Madhavan is a big name in Bollywood, and he is a even bigger star in the South Indian Film Industry. He has starred with a number of superstars like Kamal Hassan and many more. But did you know, Madhavan never planned to become an actor; it all started with a mere coincidence and as a fun factor. We will tell you the whole story of how Madhavan stepped towards stardom. Happy Birthday R Madhavan , stardom came to him as a coincidence. Know here how!
R Madhavan and his first step towards stardom
Madhavan completed his graduation in B.Sc in Electronics, Kolhapur. In an interview, while talking about the beginning of his career, he shared that students from other colleges woukd demean the students from Kolhapur. They would underestimate them during intercollege debate and public speaking competitions, saying that “they are from Kolhapur, they can’t speak English.” And Madhavan has been a good speaker, a good english speaker that it from young days. So once Maddy, aka Madhavan participated in one of those inter-college competitions and ended up winning. They would also get cash prizes, and Maddy furthermore went on to win more. And the cash prizes he received, he used it among his friends group only. And the fun fact is, they solely participated for the cash prizes.
So they thought to play a bigger game one time. One of his friends said that he has got looks, and he should try to win the weekly “face/model of the week” on a popular show of Television during that time. The winner would get a basket full of hamper and goodies. So his friend, Manoj Jadhav who was pursuing photography, made his portfolio for free during that time. Although now he’s a big photographer in Mumbai, but he was a close friend of Maddy in earlier days. And coincidentally R Madhavan won, and he was shown on TV as “Model of the week R Madhavan”.
R Madhavan First Ad shoot and TV Show
After his achievement of winning the title “Model of the Week” on TV, he further went on to participate in Graviera Man Of The Year , whose prize money was 1 Lakh rupees. So he thought to try it out, he also mentioned that Milind Soman was also present in that competition. Although Maddy couldn’t win the competition, but he came in 6th position, as he was out in the Semi-finals. He was in Mumbai for the time being, as he had come to teach public speaking and communication in a college; his friend Asha then advised him to try modelling has he has won a title once. As the money could help him set up his own office.
So with his photographs he approached Zee TV, and he gave out his photographs to people in charge of casting. He was said that they will inform him if anyone would like to cast him in an ad. And the next day itself he got a call that Vivek Bahl wants to cast him in his new TV show. So his first project was never an ad shoot. And after being cast in that TV show, his career flourished in the Television industry.
First Recognition in a Lead Role on the Silver Screen
In 1999, Mani Ratnam, a leading Indian director selected Madhavan to feature as the lead of his Tamil romantic film, Alaipayuthey (2000) and the film’s critical and commercial success gave Madhavan his breakthrough as an actor in his career. Maddy further became the lead of Gautham Menon’s directorial debut Minnale(2001), and opened to critical and commercial acclaim. Minnale helped in further building up the actor’s image as a romantic hero and the movie was later listed as a “classic romantic film” of the Tamil film industry.
And did you know his Bollywood debut movie, Rehnaa Hai Tere Dil Mein(2001) is the Hindi remake of Minnale? He starred alongside Dia Mirza in the film, and it has successfully completed 20 years. It didn’t do well during it’s release on the big screens. But it became quite popular after it was premiered in TV, creating a ult following amongst youth.
R Madhavan Upcoming Movie
R Madhavan also went on to become a producer, a writer and a director of movies, from being an accomplished actor. He has surely come a long way, and he has marked his presence in a number of film industries. He is one such actor, who has worked in 7 languages in his career. His upcoming movie, Rocketry is a biopic on a scientist, who didn’t get the support from his own country, but went on to become a successful scientist nonetheless. This movie will mark the directorial debut of Madhavan, and he is also the lead in the film. The movie will release in Hindi, English, Tamil and Telugu. With cameos of Shahrukh Khan in the Hindi and English versions and Suriya in the Tamil and Telugu versions.
We hope this movie too will become a blockbuster, and turn out epic. Also read Bollywood Stars who stole the show from the sidelines playing a minor role