Madhushan

Madhushan

R. Madhavan Tamil:மாதவன் (born 1 June 1970) is an Indian actor, writer, film producer and television host. Madhavan has received a Filmfare Award, an award from the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards alongside recognition and nominations from other organisations. He has been described as one of the few actors in India who is able to achieve pan-Indian appeal, appearing in films from seven different languages.

Madhavan began his acting career with television guest appearances, including a role on the Zee TV prime-time soap opera Banegi Apni Baat in 1996. After appearing in commercials and in small roles, he later gained recognition as the husband going through the traumas of his marriage in Mani Ratnam's successful romantic film Alaipayuthey (2000). Madhavan soon developed an image as a romantic hero with notable roles in two of 2001's biggest grossers, Gautham Menon's directorial debut Minnale and Madras Talkies' Dumm Dumm Dumm. He worked with Ratnam again in the critically acclaimed 2002 film Kannathil Muthamittal playing the father of an adopted girl, whilst he enjoyed commercial success with his role in Linguswamy's action film, Run (2002).

He was cast opposite Kamal Haasan in the 2003 drama Anbe Sivam, which earned him two notable awards for supporting actor. In 2004 he gave critically acclaimed performances in the multi-starring drama Aayutha Ezhuthu and the film secured him his first Filmfare Award for the intense portrayal of a rogue. In the mid 2000s Madhavan also pursued a career in Hindi films, writing the dialogues for the comedy Ramji Londonwaley, before appearing in supporting roles in two big-budget productions, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's Rang De Basanti and Mani Ratnam's biopic Guru. He then won critical acclaim for his portrayal of angry man in his home production in 2007, Evano Oruvan, whilst two years later he appeared in the successful bilingual horror film Yavarum Nalam. He also played a critically acclaimed role in the 2009 blockbuster by Rajkumar Hirani, 3 Idiots, portraying a student with actors Aamir Khan and Sharman Joshi.

Madhavan has been a brand ambassador appearing in many commercials, whilst he has also played television hosts to Hindi television programmes, most notably Deal Ya No Deal in 2006. Before his breakthrough role as a romantic actor in 2000, he was married to Sarita Birje and has a young son. He has been a supporter of the PETA programme in India and has appeared in events organised for the group's promotion. Madhavan owns a production company named Leukos Films, who produced his 2007 film Evano Oruvan.

His father Ranganathan was a management executive with Tata Steel while his mother, Saroja was a manager with the Bank of India. His sister, Devika, is a software engineer settled in the United Kingdom. He did schooling from DBMS School, Jamshedpur].

In 1988, Madhavan was chosen to represent India as its cultural ambassador from Rajaram College, Kolhapur to Canada after his graduation in electronics. At 22, he was awarded the Maharashtra NCC Best Cadet, allowing him to make a trip with seven others as NCC Cadets to England. Because of this honour, he received training with the Royal Army, the Navy and the Air Force, which he previously planned to join. However he was rejected from the opportunity, as he missed the age cut-off by six months. After he lost out on the place, he began taking courses in public speaking which eventually helped him venture into the film industry. He won the Indian Championship for Public Speaking and was subsequently selected to represent India at the Young Businessmen Conference in Tokyo, Japan in 1992.