Despite the accolades and decades of experience, actor and director Ananth Mahadevan says he is often overlooked for roles that he believes are tailor-made for him. The latest disappointment? The Manoj Bajpayee-starrer Governor.

After playing RBI governor S Venkitaramanan in Hansal Mehta’s Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story (2020), Mahadevan earned widespread praise. Yet, when casting began for A Ramanan — a character reportedly inspired by S Venkitaramanan — nobody approached him. “When Scam 1992 came out, Manoj was one of the first persons to acknowledge my performance on social media, before Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Shahid Kapoor. I would have given the role an edge and looked like the character of the Governor, had I been given the chance,” laments Mahadevan. He adds that filmmakers today often “lack maturity” in their thinking.