By Admin 
R Madhavan is making a lot of headlines these days by playing an important role in the blockbuster Dhurandhar. Do you know that the actor had taken a break of four years at the peak of his career. The actor has now openly told in an interview why he had distanced himself from films at the peak of his popularity.
R Madhavan took a break from acting in 2011 and stayed away from the silver screen till his comeback with ‘Saala Khadoos’ in 2016. This film was completely different from the romantic roles of his earlier career.
Why did R Madhavan take a break of four years??
In a recent conversation with Unfiltered Entertainment, R Madhavan told that he realized this while shooting abroad. “Vikram Vedha came to me after a break. Before Saala Khadoos, I had to take a break because I was very disappointed with the kind of work I was doing. I was shooting for a Tamil song in Switzerland wearing orange pants and a green shirt.”
He further said, “I was in the middle of the road and I saw a Swiss farmer sitting there, looking at us with complete hatred. He was sipping tea and wondering what we were doing. I looked at him and thought come to Chennai, I will show you who I am.”
felt like dancing to someone else’s tune
That meeting forced Madhavan to face a difficult truth about his choices as an actor. He said, “I felt really bad, but then suddenly I realized. I am really dancing to the tune of others, I am a public speaker, I know how to shoot a gun, know how to fly a remote plane, know how to ride a horse, I do a lot of things, but I am not showing any of these in my films.”
He said, “I was just trying to woo the audience so that I could become a superstar. I realized my mistake.”
The people who were closest to him were also feeling this distance. Madhavan recalled that his wife, Sarita Birje, had noticed his growing dissatisfaction. Thinking about some of his characters, he said, “Even the character I was playing… like a hungry, illiterate village boy who is trying his best to make a career in cricket. I mean, from any angle Arvind Swamy does not look like we are illiterate or hungry for food. These were all the wrong things.”
A conversation at home became the turning point
Madhavan continued, “One day, my wife asked me, ‘What happened to you?’ He said that you go to work as if you want to come back from there. There was really a lot of force in that.” He said, and gave the example of the Telugu remake of Thani Oruvan, which he found logically wrong.
Had distanced himself from the industry during a break of four years
During his four-year break, Madhavan deliberately distanced himself from the industry. He said about this, “So, I took a break. I wanted to understand where the country was going. I also stopped doing ad films, grew a beard, traveled a lot to Chennai and other places in India. I talked to rickshaw pullers, what really matters to them, what is the real cost of the things that bother them.”
Looking back, he feels that that period has made him the actor he is today. He added, “That understanding of four years is probably useful to me today.”
changed upon comeback Attitude towards filmmaking
When he finally returned, Madhavan said that his outlook towards filmmaking had completely changed. He said, “When I came back, I realized that my filmmakers, who were making films with me, were not as forward-thinking as I was. Their storytelling ability was still limited to impressing their gurus. I started looking for new directors.”
This change brought about a major transformation in him, and Madhavan played a variety of performance-oriented roles in films such as Vikram Vedha, Shaitan, Kesari 2, De De Pyar De 2 and Dhurandhar.
honored with Padma Shri
Let us tell you that Republic Day On the occasion of 2026, R Madhavan was awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian honour, for his contribution to Indian cinema. The award recognizes his career spanning over 25 years in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu films. Madhavan described the honor as “beyond my wildest dreams”.