Madhavan: I know 23-year-old girls lust after me

Q Lets begin with your latest outing Saala Khadoos Has it made money at the box officeA We made money but I thought wed make a lot more Even for my super flop film Jodi Breakers we madeRs 25 crore on day one andRs 7 crore over the weekend Raju Rajkumar Hirani coproducer of Saala Khadoos is stunned at the figures We barely had any publicity People didnt know when the film was releasing In Tamil the film went berserk It made more money in week two mdash almost a 40 per cent jumpExclusive pic of R Madhavan for his next on encounter specialistsQ Is it true that Sudha Kongara Prasad wanted to make the film with you because she is a fanA No we used to fight like cats and dogs She was Mani Ratnams assistant one of the last ones working when I was a star there She would come up to me and talk about continuity and Id ask her shut up I am always skeptical when I work with Mani Ratnams assistants because they would come with my mentors sword over their neck and I have to be careful But when I read Sudhas script I was completely blown away with the kind of research that she had done for itR Madhavan at the midday office PicShadab KhanQ Given that she is a debutante director how much did you all have to work on the filmA She had a basic story so I worked on the screenplay with her for the first two years before we pitched it to Raju We had to work on it she was inexperienced to an extent but she would take suggestions from everybody and mould it Whatever films I do I submit myself to my director because they decide how I should perform I date my directors take them out for dinners debate and discuss throw red herrings at them just to see how they function under pressure and if they accept all my suggestions or have their own point of view Sudha was acing all of that like Aanand L Rai maker of Tanu Weds ManuQ Do you also pitch ideas to makersA No I dont pitch ideas I give them fullbound scripts Either the maker and I finish it and pitch it to producers or there is an idea that I have and we work on it But mostly I dont have original ideas so I wait for the director to come to me I have a bit of expertise in screenplay writingQ Do you feel Saala Khadoos release with Mastizaade affected the businessA No because they released with 1800 prints and we went ahead with 500 The strategy was to start off slowQ Whats nextA I will take a break and decide whether I should keep my hair and moustache or take it off Theres a script I am doing on encounter specialists The research is underway and I will soon undergo arms training to make sure that I look like an arms specialist We are meeting people involved with the police and Defence forces For my kind of films there is a little bit of research that goes into it because I dont think I can entice people with the way I dance or show them my six packs nowQ You are known to be a good motivational speaker Why dont you pursue itA I do that every time I have to convince a producer to back my films Thats all I need I recently gave a speech at a Coimbatore college which went viral Since then I have been getting a lot of offers but I dont think I am qualified for that right now I want to act and be in frontof the cameraQ People have appreciated you for your movie choices But how do you regard the award system in the industryA I am someone who gives enough respect to the media and award organisers to decide whether they need to give me an award or not I cannot and I will not lobby for awards I think if professional friendship is going to influence all that then it is not earned in the first place It makes me think that I am better than I actually am I know I have found a place for myself in the industry and will be walking into the archives they will never forget that there was an actor like me mdash that much I know I just have to make sure that I keep pushing myself The awards system works the same way in the South as well If you get an Oscar your standing in Hollywood goes up So if you were charging 2 million dollars you can charge 5 million dollars post that but that doesnt happen with any award here in India However the National Award has suddenly got a lot more importance nowQ Is it a challenge to find ageappropriate rolesA I have always done ageappropriate roles except for 3 Idiots 2009 Thats the best part you can make a Piku and get R100 crore out of it I have no qualms playing my age and thats what the audience likes If I were to dye my hair and behave like a 31yearold and romance a girl doing the scene would have felt obscene let alone the audience watching it Having said that I know there are 23yearold girls who lust after me But thats a oneoff thing as they are not lusting after the Maddy that I am right now it is just about the image of who I was and what I had been mdash that I cant take seriously The moment I do that I will become a dirty old man But as an actor I cant look for a nonage appropriate role just to prove I am the alpha male around