Madhavan offended Mani Ratnam with his remark

Actor and filmmaker R. Madhavan has often credited acclaimed director Mani Ratnam for playing a crucial role in shaping his career. Mani Ratnam’s 2000 Tamil film 'Alaipayuthey' helped

Madhavan

establish himself as a romantic hero. Though Madhavan later experimented with action films like 'Run', it was Mani Ratnam who guided him back towards a different cinematic path.
In a recent interview, Madhavan shared an incident where he unintentionally offended Mani Ratnam with his statement about '

Aayitha Ezhuthu

'. In a conversation with India TV, Madhavan revealed that his career shift was largely self-driven. Originally, Mani Ratnam had envisioned him in the role eventually played by Siddharth, but Madhavan was firm in his decision to take on the character of Inba in 'Aayitha Ezhuthu'.

After hearing the film’s story, he told Mani Ratnam that he wanted to play Inba, as he believed it was the best character in the film and that the other roles would be forgotten. The filmmaker was offended by this statement.

Determined to prove himself, Madhavan took a month to undergo a transformation. “I shaved my hair off, played golf without sunscreen to get super tanned, and became utterly unrecognisable. In that look, I went to his office and was stopped by his security because they didn’t recognise me,” he recalled. When the guards finally let him in, Mani Ratnam was taken aback by the drastic change. He did not realise it was the Run actor until Madhavan smiled. Eventually, the director relented and allowed him to play Inba.

Madhavan drew inspiration from lions hunting their prey, observing their calmness even in moments of violence. He realised that Inba’s character required a similar sense of detached ruthlessness, embodying aggression without emotion.
Madhavan and Mani Ratnam later collaborated on '

Kannathil Muthamittal

' and 'Guru'. However, after Guru, Madhavan decided to carve his own path. “Since most of my successful films were attributed to Mani sir, I wanted to create a path of my own… find my own route,” he stated.
Madhavan is now gearing up for the release of 'Test' on OTT alongside Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, and Nayanthara. He is also set to play a significant role in '

Kesari Chapter 2

', scheduled for release on April 18.