R. Madhavan Quotes

I've never made any horrible, horrible movies. If you don't ruin your reputation, you can always get work.

I graduated college in 1983, so that's 32 years, and all I've done for a living is act or commercials or voiceovers. So I have nothing to complain about.

I do feel almost violent when I'm watching things that I don't think are good enough. I get furious for the audience. I want to say to them, 'This play is not supposed to be like this. They've got it completely wrong. You should be electrified by this.'

As an actor, it's my job to make everything interesting and exciting and new. If I'm not doing my job well, then I'm stealing.

I don't think you can really make television based on what you think audiences want. You can only make stories that you like, because you have to watch it so many times.

Like all actors, after every job, I think, 'Well, that's the last one, and I'd better think about doing something else.' But I've been so very lucky, and I've managed to keep going for a long time. It's just the way the cookie crumbles, and it's crumbled pretty well for me. I appreciate it, and I realise how lucky I am.

Good shows have to get made in the first place... The regular ones don't excite me as an actor but at the end of the day, I have to work to earn my bread and butter.

Soon after 'Paruthiveeran' I was flooded with scripts that were almost the same as the award-winning film. I had offers from Malyalam, Telugu and Kannada filmmakers. But I had to be firm and in fact I realized that now I had to be more careful with my choice of films because I have raised the audience expectations.

The audience is expecting good work from me. They want me to do roles that are unique and important in the story. So, I am trying to focus on different characters to play. I am doing the kind of films which are completely different from each other.

I didn't have a list of dos and don'ts when I started acting, but one thing was very clear that I would only work in films which I would enjoy watching.

I understand that a lot of other actors don't have a choice. They have to eat so they need to work and they'll do films that they're not so proud of. But I've been fortunate enough to be given a second wind, so I try to pick projects I know will provide the audience the kind of escapism they want from me.

I just want to work and be in films that I like, it is so simple. I think from the outside it seems as though as actors, we are picking and choosing our roles, but it isn't like that at all, perhaps unless you are George Clooney. There are not that many movies I would want to be in.

I appreciate artistically made movies, but as an audience member, I want to be entertained, too.

For me, I wanted to be an actor without being bothered about the medium. So when the opportunity came my way, it did not really matter on which medium I am working.

I have high expectations of my audience, and in general, I would say they've met that.

There's so many great wrestlers in this sport who could probably work circles around me and it's amazing to see that, but I love being the kind of character who can take you on a roller coaster, make you smile and laugh.

Some actors retire, and some don't.

Attention spans are so limited and ticket prices so high. We're anyway in a business of manipulating emotions. But each film needs to be positioned truthfully so that people don't feel cheated.

I just try to do things on stage that I think the audience would enjoy. And I try to draw on and add to acts that I've enjoyed watching.

"Cannonball Adderley said, 'First 20 minutes we'll jazz out, then the last hour it's gonna be songs that people paid to see.' Which is why he was driving a Rolls-Royce."

As an actor, you can show up on a set and be on a TV show for three or four years, or whatever it is and, by the end of it, you just want to do something else.

If you are tuning in just for the show, you're going to be sorely disappointed.

When your show keeps coming back, year after year, you have a responsibility because your fans know your show sometimes better than you do. You can't play games with them. You have to be really focused and concentrated, and play at your best in every department. The writing staff has to be fantastic. Our director line-up has to be great. Everything has to be better and better. Your fans keep track of the details.

People pay a lot of money to go see shows now, they don't wanna know about your technical problems, or if you're not feeling good, they don't wanna know we have a glitch. It's their night, you better do something to earn that money.

I've relaxed my feelings about other companies performing my works. I have never in principle been against my ballets being danced by other companies. Rather, it is that we lack the time, space and money to insure that they are done well. To me, the only sin is mediocrity.