'3 Idiots' not my best performance: Madhavan

Actor R Madhavan, who has cemented his position in Bollywood with the box office success of '3 Idiots', feels that his performance in the movie is not his best.

Actor R Madhavan, who has cemented his position in Bollywood with the box office success of '3 Idiots', feels that his performance in the movie is not his best. "Even though the film has changed my life as an actor because of its phenomenal box office run worldwide, I don't consider it as my best performance. It is yet to come," Maddy, as the actor is known, said.

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"What I did in '3 Idiots', anybody could have done. All the actor needed to do is to look like a student. Of course, I worked hard on the look aspect. But I feel Omi's and Sharman's was a more populistic role while mine was narrative," he said. The actor said his role of Farhan Qureshi required him to be an observer all the time. "I have used three different voices...as a narrator, as a student and the time where I, Raju (Sharman) and Chatur (Omi) set on the journey to find Rancho (Aamir Khan). "Narration is part of the dialogue and the tone has to match every situation. I took the longest time doing the voice over," he said.

Maddy said he is glad the film has touched students and made sense to parents. "I have not met anybody who has not seen the movie twice and in theatres. It has struck a chord with all sections of the society," he said.

u00a0Agreeing that visibility had improved for him in North India post successes of films like 'Guru', 'Rang De Basanti', 'Mumbai Meri Jaan' and now '3 Idiots', Madhavan wonders if he would ever get a solo-lead film from the Yash Raj banner considered the ultimate in acceptance level. However, he said his endorsement deals with national brands was a good enough sign that he has been accepted in the national mainstream market. Madhavan said he is enjoying the attention post '3 Idiots'. "I realised that I can't go out on the streets and eat Pani Puri on a Mumbai road any longer and I am not complaining," he said. Despite being the heartthrob in Tamil cinema, Madhavan's journey in Bollywood has been slow but the actor believes that '3 Idiots' has changed that. "Now I am vastly visible and getting out on the streets is becoming difficult for me which is a good thing," he said.

Madhavan rues that 'Ramji Londonwale', where he played a solo lead, did not work at the box office. "It did not get a good release. I think the film was pretty good. I did a good job in the film," he said. The actor, who played an engineering student with a passion for wild life photography in '3 Idiots', says that he identified with his character in the film. "I studied B Sc Electronics to be an engineer and later did Masters in Communication and Advertising. I loved Engineering for what it could accomplish to make our lives easier. But, I realised that it was not my passion," he said.

u00a0Madhavan was busy teaching Public Speaking and Mass communication in Mumbai when he started working on television. "I did not realise that I wanted to become an actor till the media started writing that I was a good actor," he said.

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The actor went on to do serials like 'Banegi Apni Baat', 'Saya', 'Sea Hawks', 'Tol Mol Ke Bol' before shifting base to Chennai when Mani Ratnam offered him a lead role in his film. About not doing solo hero leads, he said Mani Ratnam, with whom he has worked in five films, makes character-oriented films. "In Kannathil Muthamittal, the story was about a Sri Lankan refugee girl adopted by me. The little girl was the protagonist. Whereas in 'Aayutha Ezhuthu', I played a henchman which was later portrayed by Abhishek Bachchan in the Hindi version 'Yuva'. I would prefer being part of biggest blockbusters rather than doing on solo lead films," he said. Speaking about 'Teen Patti', Madhvan said he plays a professor in the Amitabh Bachchan-Ben Kingsley starrer. "It's a hardcore commercial masala film about greed, lust and making money at a faster pace," he said.

In 'Teen Patti', Madhavan has worked extensively with Big B whereas with Ben Kingsley he shot only for a day. "They are such accomplished actors, but are like newcomers on the sets," he said. Apart from 'Teen Patti', Madhavan will be seen opposite Kangana Ranaut in 'Tanu weds Manu'. When asked if he has any plans to return to television, Madhavan said, "I have my hands full with Tamil and Hindi films. Cinema is larger than life and my going is good. I don't want to disturb it. There is an aura about a film actor which a television actor can't enjoy."

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