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Still in the heart

A star down South, Madhavan is yet to prove himself in Bollywood. Will "Ramji Londonwaley" do it for him?

Photo: R.V. Moorthy

WHAT'S BREWING? Madhavan is ready to open a new innings with "Ramji Londonwaley" Photo: R.V. Moorthy

We have seen him cooking many a story in Banegi Apni Baat - he admits he is expert at it - but this Friday, Madhavan would be cooking gajar ka halwa in a theatre in your neighbourhood. Playing Ramji Londonwaley, in one of his rare appearances in Hindi cinema, Madhavan is a warm-hearted cook from Bihar who lands up in London. "Ramji Ramnarayan Tiwari's specialities are dishes for the fitness conscious. His gajar ka halwa is sugar-free, still it tastes great. However, the film is much more than just his cooking." An adaptation of his Tamil film Nala Damyanti, which was scripted by Kamal Hasan, Madhavan reveals, the comedy proves how one can retain his identity in a foreign land. "The situation is like an African lion thrown in Safdarjang Enclave. Now the easy option is, it adapts according to the surroundings and the difficult one is, it makes the environs respect its individuality."

Madhavan has also penned the dialogues of the film. "We wanted to take the melodramatic elements out. Knowing the subtle aspects of Hindi pretty well, I thought I could chip in."

Limited sunshine

That's the point. He might have seen sunshine on the other side of Vindhyas, his latest Priyasakhi has also been declared a hit, but here, he is still an accomplished actor who has not got ample opportunities to deliver, a Rehna Hai Tere Dil Main notwithstanding.

He might be a favourite of Mani Ratnam but even the maverick dropped him for Abhishek Bachchan in Yuva. Madhavan played the Lallan's character Inba Sekhar in Aayitha Ezhuthu. Earlier, when Mani's understudy Shaad Ali made Saathiya, a frame-to-frame copy of Mani Ratnam's Aalaya Payuthe, he opted for Vivek Oberoi.

Madhavan says, it doesn't hurt him because he has already been part of the originals but it does make him jealous at times. "I don't accept the notion that Hindi cinema lends mass acceptance. Of some 12,000 odd theatres in India, some 7,500 are in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. And women in Ludhiana do know that I am a decent actor," he quips.

He continues, "To me, a film is like a baby which needs complete concentration. I want to concentrate on one character at a time."

One of those actors who are not shy of holding an opinion be it promoting vegetarianism through PETA or just dissecting cinema, ask Madhavan why Yuva failed to click and the young critic in the actor unfolds, "I believe the film didn't have a closure, a finality. We are used to `and they lived happily ever after' kind of endings.

If Lallan had vanquished Om Puri's character, the film might have found wider acceptance. Ending up in Vidhan Sabha gave rise to more stories."

He points out, apart from Aalaya Payuthe, most of his films that have won critical acclaim have not been blockbusters at the box office. "People still come to cinema for entertainment. I have taken each assignment as a battle. Even if you win one, you have to fight the next day."

ANUJ KUMAR

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