The man who acts Pricey

He landed lead roles in two films there whose box office fate will be revealed as soon as they are released. He also notched up a role in one Kannada film which has only 12 per cent dialogues while the rest are only movements! "I hardly speak 18 to 20 lines in the entire film," he reveals.

Working with actors like Satish Shah in Ghar Jamai, whose comic timing is legendary, Madhavan’s main concern now is to see that the scenes don’t turn out to be damp squibs because of him. So he has taken time off from adding to his bank balance to polish his acting skills. Of which, by the way, he is quite modest. "Earlier, I was really bad, now I am just bad".

What makes his foray into acting even more astonishing is that Madhavan was actually an electronics student. During his college years, he was also went to Canada as a cultural ambassador by the Rotary International which says a lot for his public relation skills. Madhavan has an easy, charming manner which puts other people quickly at ease. But his flippant approach to life is only a surface act.

He took his role as an ambassador very seriously and at the age of 18, when most guys were chasing girls, Madhavan was reading the Quaran and the Ramayana. "It was quite an experience," he says, gearing himself up for questions that Canadians might ask — like why cows are considered sacred in India and why women wear bindis. One trip to Canada and he wanted to go back, but only if he hasn’t to pay for the ticket.

Learning that the NCC sent their best cadet abroad, Madhavan signed up, and passed with flying colours. Earning the Maharashtra Best Cadet title led to another trip abroad. This time to England. "I was so disappointed then. Here I was all set to leave for Canada and then I was sent to England," he laughs. But again it turned out to be a great experience as he trained there with the Royal Army, Navy and the Air Force.

Back in Kolhapur, he pooled in all his experiences to step into a career completely different from electronics — teaching. But this again was driven by his ambition to make money. He compiled a set of notes and started a 10-day course in public speaking. "Charging around Rs 1,000 per student, I turned out to be one of the richest guys in college," he grins. He was invited to Mumbai for a special public teaching class. Not one to resist the chance of earning Rs 50,000 in 10 days, Madhavan came to the big city, never to leave.

When someone suggested he try his hand at acting, he picked up the suggestion. He made his way to the Zee TV Response Department. After being made to wait for over four hours, he angrily dumped his photographs on the desk and left. Only to land a role as a convict in Yule Love Stories. "The first thing I asked them was, `How much will I be paid?’. And Rs 2,000 a shift sounded like good money," says Madhavan.

In a matter of three days he ended up bagging three projects. Spotted by Tony and Deeya Singh on the sets of Yule.., he got a role in Banegi Apni Baat. And the next day, he went to the Zee office to thank them and ended up in Tol Mol Ke Bol.

And this South Indian face took over the small screen — a captain in Sea Hawks, a convict in Yeh Kahan Aa Gaye Hum, an anchor in Tol Mol… Then followed A Mouthful Of Sky. "I loved working in English. Since that is the language I dream in. I would love to do more such serials," he says. And who knows, if the money is right, he might do just that.