Madhavan: Mad about life

MUMBAI – R Madhavan believes that rules are meant to be broken. The rebel star shares his experiences with us:
MY LIFE is very similar to the story in ‘3 Idiots.’ I was quite a rebel and always wanted to break rules. But because I shared a deep bond with my parents they let me do whatever I wished to. Like typical South Indians they wanted me to go for higher studies. But I rebelled and got into acting.
AS A CHILD I was naughty. I was the kind parents didn’t want their children to associate with. I wanted to know why there were always must-dos. Jamshedpur, where I was born and bred, was an ‘academic’ town. But I went against the grain. I’d play in the mud, break my hands and legs. I learnt more than children reared in a protective environment.
AS A STUDENT I was below average but well-informed. I disliked studying because the lessons were taught in a boring way. I became the bane of my teachers and parents. My marks kept dwindling. But I believe I was more educated than my classmates. I was not a voracious reader. I just gathered knowledge by listening and talking to people who had experience of various things. I’d spend time with the maali (gardener) who’d teach me how to grow a bougainvillea than sit in the classroom. But I got my share of scholarships. At 17, I went to Canada as an exchange student. There I was the only guy who went skiing. Back home, I joined the NCC and even bagged a gold medal in shooting. I wanted to grab all opportunities that life offered.
MY WIFE Sarita was my student. I was a vagabond who had too much energy and wanted instant gratification. And here was a woman who in the true sense of the word was an angel. She became my anchor, who held me down and let me soar too. I owe a lot to what I am to Sarita.
MY MARRIAGE was unlike other South Indian shaadis. Usually, they are solemn affairs. But mine was all masti. We even asked the pandit to explain the Sanskrit mantras. Sarita and I were heart and soul into it.
A FAN of mine wrote to me saying that she actually had a ceremony where she got married to my photograph. Another one wrote, “I feel homesick studying abroad but having your picture on my desktop makes me feel good. I can smell home.” This is very humbling.
MY SON Vedant is five. I gave him the name. It means someone who lives by the Vedas. I’d love him to be a rebel but not without a cause. His teachers complain that he’s absent most of the time. That’s because he travels with me around the world. He knows the difference between how a dolphin swims and how does a whale. His teachers say that he knows so much that it becomes difficult to teach him at times. He asks his classmates the difference between a manatee and a hippo!
MUMBAI IS a place where dreams come true. It can pull a guy from the streets and make him into a star. That’s what it did to me too. The industry has played godfather to me. The beaches here are rubbish but the city’s got great soil. I live on the 30th floor and from there I can see an infinite variety of trees. Do you know that the tops of all trees turn red in winter? I also love the street food. I enjoy pani puri and vada pav. I’ve even begun looking like a vada.
THE UNIVERSE has conspired to get me this life. For a guy who never planned to act, to work with the likes of Mani Ratnam, Rajkumar Hirani and Amitabh Bachchan is amazing. I’m like a child when I meet them. It’s an out of body experience for me. Yes there are times when I feel low when a film doesn’t do well or when I put on weight and can’t do much about it. But that’s about it. I want to live every second to the fullest.