R Madhavan remembers a fond memory with Mani Ratnam ahead of Aaytha Ezhuthu’s shoot where he ‘offended’ the director

R. Madhavan and director Mani Ratnam have collaborated on films multiple times, with the filmmaker even introducing the former to Tamil cinema. Given the long-standing relationship they share, the actor recently recalled a fond memory involving the director, where he had accidentally “offended” him.

In a recent interaction on India TV, Maddy reminisced about his conversation with the director ahead of Aaytha Ezhuthu’s shoot. The director had apparently wanted to cast the actor in the role of Arjun Balakrishnan in the film.

The actor said, “I heard the story, and I told him that I wanted to play the role of Inba. When asked why I chose that character, I candidly told him that it was the best role in the story, and the others would be forgotten. He was offended by my statement.”

Continuing the conversation, Maddy asked the director to give him a month’s time to prove that he could pull off the character of Inba. The actor added, “I shaved my hair off, played golf without sunscreen to get super tanned, and I had become utterly unrecognizable. In that look, I went to his office and was stopped by his security because they didn’t recognize me.”

Moreover, the actor highlighted that even the director did not realize it was him until he laughed out loud with excitement. Apparently, the actor had decided to move away from lover-boy-type characters, which is why he was interested in playing a role like Inba. Interestingly, the role of Arjun Balakrishnan was later given to Siddharth.

Aaytha Ezhuthu is a political action film loosely based on the life of George Reddy, a scholar from Osmania University in Hyderabad. The movie featured Suriya, R. Madhavan, and Siddharth in the lead roles, with actors like Esha Deol, Meera Jasmine, Trisha Krishnan, and others joining them. The film was simultaneously shot in Hindi as Yuva.

As for R. Madhavan’s upcoming projects, the actor will soon be seen playing the lead role in the film Test. Starring alongside Siddharth and Nayanthara, the film is slated to release directly on the OTT platform Netflix on April 4, 2025.

Furthermore, the actor is also playing a leading role in the movie Kesari Chapter 2, alongside Akshay Kumar and Ananya Panday.

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