"No one expected 3 Idiots to do so well" - Madhavan

He has been in the industry for the past decade and yet he is termed as a newcomer. Apart from being fluent in almost five different languages and numerous hits in Tamil, Telegu, Hindi under his belt, he is still a fresh actor who manages to turn a new corner with ever role he plays. His smile has been an endearing beacon that has managed to survive the lashes of films and varied roles, he is none other than R. Madhavan. We caught up with this hyper active bubbling actor to find out more about his film 3 Idiots post its release which has been making waves ever since.

It's been more than two weeks now that 3 Idiots has released, looking back, how has the journey been?
Right now I am just too numb to really feel anything, like really there was a time when we were happy and then it goes ahead and breaks Ghajini's records, then we heard that its actually beaten Sholay's records, so there is a huge sense of happiness as the film has really gone ahead and touched the people the way we expected it to. The best part is that in the past five days I have seldom met people who haven't seen the film at least once. So on the whole the journey was fantastic but now after reaching such a point I have no idea what to do. I just feel numb with all the positive reviews coming in.

Did you'll expect such a huge response for the film, beating even Ghajini's BO record?
Well to be frank no one really expected the film to do so well. I think I was the only one on sets who went around saying that this film is going to be a big hit, but still I never thought that it would really turn out to be such a huge success. I mean come on, this has just gone all out and shattered all standards that we thought.

Everyone has an experience while working with the perfectionist, what's yours?
I think the biggest perfectionist is Rajkumar Hirani, which is what Aamir has said himself, while Aamir is actually a stickler for details and he follows his job very passionately. Whatever he does is full of passion and attention. Maybe this is why people get unnerved because you have to be as committed as him to your project only then will you see the same movie. As far as Raju is concerned, he was even more committed. The reason Aamir is a perfectionist is that he does what is best for the film and not what is best for him.

While shooting 3 Idiots we heard that you actually moved out of the hotel to stay with the IIM students, why?
We didn't have to move actually, it was another aspect to help us with our characters that we decided to stay in the hostel itself to get in touch with the mannerisms and behaviour of the students. So in a way this became helpful as the students also got well adjusted with us and us with them.

What was the funniest or rather embarrassing situation you faced while filming?
This will have to be the 'tohfa' scene where we had to pull down our pants. The worst part or rather as you said the embarrassing part was that it was not an all-guys college so we had girls there too and irrespective of that we just had to turn around and pull down our pants. This was also pretty difficult.

The entire team of 3I just went on tour of sorts, where all did you go and which was the best city according to you?
It's very difficult to choose. Everywhere we went, be it Indore, Bangalore, Delhi, Nagpur, Ahmedabad or anywhere for that matter, the response was the same. It just drove us up the wall. The ecstasy of the audience, the way they were even repeating dialogues from the film after 5 days; it was like a sea of people.

How similar are you to the character you played in the film 3I?
I think I am more like Rancho in real life. I mean I had a great relationship with my parents. I could explain myself to them; actually I went through the same situation as my character did. I have done my BSc too, but all my life I have been very different in what I do, not for the sake of being different but because I didn't find sense in what was being done.

Which has been the best compliment you have received from anyone in the industry?
Three of four of them actually said 'after seeing how you spoke to your father I actually have the courage to speak to mine' and these were from some people who are in the industry with us today.

You and Sharman remained mum at most press conferences during the whole Chetan Bhagat episode, so what's your take on it?
I think by the end of the entire controversy, it's pretty evident why it really happened. Mr. Bhagat has apologized now and I just think that he missed out on a great opportunity to be with us in our tours and all. Had we not been in a conflicting mode, lot better things would have come out. In fact we would have loved to share this entire success with him as part of the group which is what the original plan was. But he took an antagonistic approach and we had to safeguard ourselves.

Omi Vaidya has been receiving a lot of accolades...
All I can say about Omi is that he is a true super star, he's got the maximum benefit from the film and I think he deserves it, and well if he's smart about choosing a role that says a lot in the future. He's definitely got his place here. But he will have to learn the language; he doesn't know a lot of hindi.

So now after this, would you be taking off on a break to enjoy the victory?
Yes, actually I am planning a really nice long family holiday. In fact when I was a kid I had been to Canada to live with the cowboys as part of an exchange trip and I loved that life. It changed me totally apart from being a vegan. So I am planning to take my son and wife there to for a nice holiday.