'Madhavan khatam': R Madhavan says terrified of showing up on film sets, assistants saying 'his time is over'

R Madhavan says he lives in fear that others may think his career is over and that it’s time to replace him. He accepted coming to sets is getting harder for him with every film.

By: Entertainment Desk

Mumbai | Updated: November 17, 2025 07:24 AM IST

4 min read

R Madhavan reveals his biggest fear is people saying his time is over

R Madhavan worries that people on film sets gossip about his career nearing its end.

R Madhavan has carved a unique space for himself, not just within one film industry, but across state lines and language barriers. Be it Tamil cinema or the Bombay film industry, collaborating with stalwarts like Mani Ratnam or Rajkumar Hirani, he has seen it all and done it all. However, the actor, who will be completing 30 years in the film industry next year, admits to a very peculiar fear whenever he begins a new project, one that, he says, grows stronger with each film.

In a candid conversation with Mirchi Plus, he opened up about this anxiety: “Aaj kal na main jabhi set par jaata hoon, mujhe pehle se bohot zyada darr lagta hai, mujhe na first day jab aap set par jao, toh sab dekh kar ye bol rahe hai ki ‘hogaya, Maddy khatam’, ‘aab isko acting nahi aati’. It’s getting worse by the film, mujhe lagta hau ki mere assistants dekh rahe hai, aur keh rahe hai ‘ki aab time hogaya hai kisi aur ko join karne ka, isko kuch aata nahi hai.’ Mera woh jo khauf hai na woh har film mein badhta jata hai (These days, whenever I go to the set, I feel an immense fear beforehand. On the first day, I feel everyone is looking at me and thinking, ‘It’s over, Maddy is done,’ or ‘He can’t act anymore.’ With every film, it only gets worse. I feel my assistants are watching and saying, ‘It’s time to bring someone else, he doesn’t know anything.’ That fear of mine keeps growing with every film).”

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In the same conversation, Madhavan also shared the joy of working alongside a superstar like Ajay Devgn, with whom he first collaborated on the highly successful Shaitaan, and now De De Pyaar De 2. He said: “When I did Shaitaan with him, on the first day I thought, just leave him alone, because maybe he doesn’t like to be talked to and everything. But once he gets comfortable, it is so amazing to see all the things he has to share. That innocence which he has maintained, and he takes a little time to understand, I think, but the innocence he has, and the curiosity I have, both are things we have retained and I’m very proud of.”

Madhavan had earlier spoken about taking a break from films for two to three years as he was disillusioned with the the sort of work he was doing and couldn’t connect with it. He had also spoken about the mitigating incident that made him take the decision. “I had to take a break because I was very disillusioned by the kind of work I was doing. I was shooting a Tamil song in Switzerland, wearing orange pants and a green shirt. I was gyrating to the music. I was in the middle of the road, and I saw this Swiss farmer looking at us with complete disdain and shaking his head. I looked at him and said, ‘You come to Chennai, I’ll show you who I am.’ I was really offended, but it struck me suddenly that I am literally dancing to other people’s tunes.”

No matter what Madhavan might feel about the fear of people thinking his time has ended, this year alone is proof of his growing stature. He was recently seen in Kesari Chapter 2 and Aap Jaisa Koi. Now, he is gearing up for two major releases: De De Pyaar De 2, which hit theaters today, and Dhurandhar, slated for next month.

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