Roja actor Madhoo says relationship with Mani Ratnam strained after she refused to credit him for stardom: ‘My attitude has…’

Discussing how a statement in an interview affected her relationship with Mani Ratnam, she recounted, “My interview came in a very popular magazine. In that interview I don’t remember the question but someone asked me ‘he made you a star’ or something like that, and I said that ‘nobody makes a film to make somebody else a star. I fit in the role. Mani sir didn’t make the film to make me a star. He made this amazing film and I happen to be in it and I worked. It clicked.’ The headline they carried was, ‘Mani sir did not make me a star’ or something like that. When I saw that, I was like I didn’t say this.”

She added, “All those people who are in the industry know how media can twist things but even I would not give you the benefit of the doubt. I think my attitude was very innocent. I was a simple girl who acted out of my pain and insecurity and created a wall that said, ‘F*** off. I am me, who helped me?’ That was my attitude and that pissed off many people. I didn’t make many good bonds and which is why I wasn’t repeated in many films.”

Roja, starring Arvind Swami and Madhoo, revolves around a simple girl from a village in Tamil Nadu who embarks on a desperate quest to find her husband after he is abducted by militants during a covert mission in Jammu and Kashmir. The film marked the debut of music composer AR Rahman, who won the National Film Award for Best Music Direction for his work in the film. Additionally, Roja clinched two more National Awards, including Best Film on National Integration.