Movies : Actors :

Madhavan

Madhavan is a famous Tamil film actor. He was born on June 1, 1970 as Madhavan Ranganathan in Jamshedpur. He was born into a Tamil speaking family.Madhavan entered the film industry rather late, at the age of 29. He acted in a good number of films, many of which were major hits in Tamil.

Family
Madhavan's father is Ranganathan, who is an ex-army officer and his mother is Saroja. He has a sister, Devika is a software engineer settled in the USA. He is married to Sarita and the couple have a son named Vedaant.

Education
Madhavan was chosen to represent India, as its cultural ambassador from his college to Canada at the age of 18. At 22, he was awarded the Maharashtra Best Cadet, allowing him to make a trip with three others as NCC Cadets to England. Because of this honour, he received training with the Royal Army, the Navy and the Air Force, which he previously planned to join. Madhavan took courses in Public speaking and won the Indian Championship for Public Speaking and was subsequently selected to represent India at the Young Businessmen Conference in Tokyo, Japan in 1992.

Beginning of the Acting Career
Madhavan's acting career was started with advertisements. He did a commercial for a Sandalwood talc, Ponds, in 1997. Mr. Snathosh Sivan introduced him to Mani Ratnam for his film "Iruvar", but Madhavan was rejected the role the director felt his young looks does not suit the role in 'Iruvar'. So Madhavan went on acting in Hindi Television Serials like 'Saaya', 'Sea Hawks', 'Banegi Apni Baat' and 'Ghar Jamai'. Many of his serials were translated into Tamil also.

Career in Movies
Madhavan had his debut in the movie 'Fred Olen Ray's Inferno' alongside 'Don Wilson'. His debut into the Indian Movies happened in the Kannada film 'Shanti Shanti Shanti". In this film Madhavan acted as the second hero. But the film failed. His first Tamil film was 'Alaipayuthey' (2000), in which he paired with Shalini Ajith Kumar. The film was a blockbuster on release itself. He played the role of a husband who experiences difficulties in marriage. The film was well received by critics. The film was directed by Mani Ratnam.

A number of films followed Alaipayuthey and Madhavan saw a rise in his career graph. His first movie in Tamil was followed by the movies 'Ennavale', 'Minnale', 'Dumm Dumm Dumm' and 'Parthale Paravasam'. The movie 'Minnale' made him the heartthrob of teen brigade. He became famous among his fans as 'Maddy'. Madhavan made a debut to the Hindi film field in the movie 'Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein', the Hindi remake of the super hit Tamil movie 'Minnale'. He played a good role in 'Dumm Dumm Dumm' opposite Jyothika.

In 'Parthale Paravasam', Madhavan played a somewhat serious role, again of a husband in a troubled marriage. Madhavan acted in five of Mani Ratnam films namely Alaipayuthey, Kannathil Muthamittal, Aayitha Ezhuthu and Guru. He acted with Kamal Haasan in the film 'Pammal Ke Sambandham' and 'Anbe Sivam'. The film 'Kannathil Muthamittal' bagged six National Awards as well as over ten awards at various International Film Festivals around the world.

Madhavan's next big hit was 'Run' directed by Lingusamy. He acted opposite to Meera Jasmine in this film. Some of Madhavan's films include Nala Damayanthi, Priyamana Thozhi, Lesa Lesa (guest role), Jay Jay, Aethiree, Priyasakhi. Madhavan acted in Hindi films as well. Some of his Hindi movies are Ramji Londonwaley (the remake of Nala Damayanthi), Rang De Basanti (appeared in a Cameo role), Guru (Bollywood's biggest hit of 2007).

Filmography
Madhavan has done movies in Tamil, Hindi, Kannada and English.

Movies in Tamil
1. Alaipayuthey (2000, Co-stars : Shalini Kumar) directed by Mani Ratnam
2. Ennavale (2000, Co-stars : Sneha) directed by Suresh
3. Minnale (2001, Co-stars : Reema Sen, Abbas) directed by Gautham Menon
4. Dumm Dumm Dumm (2001,Co-stars : Jyothika) directed by Alaga Perumal
5. Parthale Paravasam (2001, Co-stars : Simran Bagga, Sneha, Kamal Haasan) directed by K. Balachander
6. Kannathil Muthamittal (2002, Co-stars : Simran Bagga, Nandita Das) directed by Mani Ratnam
7. Run (2002, Co-stars : Meera Jasmine, Atul Kulkarni) directed by Lingusamy
8. Anbe Sivam (2003, Co-stars : Kiran Rathod, Kamal Haasan) directed by Sundar C
9. Nala Damayanthi (2003, Co-stars : Geetu Mohandas, Kamal Haasan) directed by Mouli
10. Priyamana Thozhi (2003, Co-stars : Jyothika, Sree Devi, Vineeth) directed by Vikraman
11. Jay Jay (2003, Co-stars : Pooja Umashankar, Nisha Kothari, Reema Sen) directed by Saran
12. Aethiree (2004, Co-stars : Sadha, Kanika Subramaniam) directed by K. S. Ravikumar
13. Aayitha Ezhuthu (2004, Co-stars : Surya, Siddharth Narayan, Trisha Krishnan, Esha Deol, Meera Jasmine) directed by Mani Ratnam
14. Priyasakhi (2005, Co-stars : Sadha) directed by K. S. Adiyaman
15. Thambi (2006, Co-stars : Pooja Umashankar) directed by Seeman
16. Rendu (2006, Co-stars : Reema Sen, Anushka Shetty) directed by Sundar C
17. Arya (2007, Co-stars : Bhavana Balachandran, Tejashree) directed by K. S. Adiyaman

Movies in Hindi
1. Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein (2001, Co-stars : Dia Mirza, Saif Ali Khan) directed by Gautham Menon
2. Dil Vil Pyar Vyar (2002, Co-stars : Jimmy Shergill, Namrata Shirodkar, Sanjay Suri, Sonali Kulkarni, Riya Sen) directed by Anant Mahadevan
3. Ramji Londonwaley (2005, Co-stars : Amitabh Bachchan, Sameera Bangargi) directed by Sanjay Daima
4. Rang De Basanti (2006,Co-stars : Aamir Khan, Soha Ali Khan, Siddharth Narayan, Alice Patten, Kunal Kapoor) directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
5. Guru (2007, Co-stars : Abhishek Bachchan, Vidya Balan, Aishwarya Rai, Mithun Chakraborty) directed by Mani Ratnam
6. Delhii Heights (Cameo appearance) (2007, Co-stars : Jimmy Shergill, Neha Dhupia) directed by Anand Kumar

Movies in English
1. Inferno (1998, Co-stars : on Wilson) directed by Fred Olen Ray
2. Nothing But Life (2004, Co-stars : Nassar, Kaveri) directed by Rajiv Anchal

Upcoming Movies
Many of Madhavan's movies in Tamil, Hindi and English are under production and announced stage. His upcoming movies are :

* Leelai (with Shamita Shetty, Sadha - To Be Released in September 2007) directed by Kona Venkat
* Vaazhthukal (with Bhavana Balachandran - To Be Released on November 9, 2007) directed by Seeman
* Evano Oruvan (with Sangeetha - Post-Production) directed by Nishikanth Kamath
* Sunglass (Hindi) (with Konkona Sen Sharma, Raima Sen - Post-Production) directed by Rituparno Ghosh
* Yeh Hai Mumbai Meri Jaan (Hindi) (with Soha Ali Khan, Irfan Khan - In Production) directed by Nishikanth Kamath
* Oru Naal Podhuma (Announced for 2008) directed by Madhavan
* Stella (English) (with Vidya Balan, Brendan Fraser - Announced for 2008) directed by Deepa Mehta
* Pagalavan (Announced for 2008) directed by Seeman
* Yavarum Nalam (with Kareena Kapoor - Announced for 2008) directed by Vikram
* Suryamukhi (Hindi) (with Preity Zinta - Announced for 2008) directed by Shaji Karun

Awards
Madhavan won the Filmfare Best Debut award for the Tamil film 'Alaipayuthey'. He also won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for the films 'Anbe Sivam' in 2003 and again for 'Aayitha Ezhuthu' in 2004.

Brand Ambassador
Madhavan has brand ambassador for Pepsi (individually as well as with fellow actor Suriya ) and most recently, Clinic Plus All Clear range of shampoos.

Other Interests
Madhavan is a pure vegetarian. He endoreses for the brand, PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals). His other interest is Mobile Gaming. In July 2006, Paradox Studios Limited launched a new game compatible with mobile phones, with Madhavan as the lead character. The first of the two games, Madhavan's MIG, featured the actor making a reprise of his Rang De Basanti pilot's role. In the other game titled Madhavan, the player had to help the actor get to the premiere of his latest movie evading the paparazzi. He has also been a guest judge, in the Indian television show, Fame Gurukul.