Ranganathan Madhavan (born 1 June 1970) is an Indian actor, writer, director, and producer who predominantly appears in Tamil and Hindi movies. Over the course of his career, he has been a recipient of several accolades including one National Film Award, four Filmfare Awards South and one Tamil Nadu State Film Award. Currently, he serves as the President of Film and Television Institute of India (FITI), Pune.

Madhavan gained recognition in Tamil cinema by starring in Mani Ratnam's romantic drama film Alai Payuthey (2000). He soon developed an image as a romantic hero with notable roles in two of the highest-grossing Tamil films of 2001, Gautham Vasudev Menon's directorial debut Minnale and Madras Talkies' Dumm Dumm Dumm. He achieved further critical and commercial success with films such as Kannathil Muthamittal (2002), Run (2002), Jay Jay (2003) and Aethirree (2004). In the mid-2000s, Madhavan also actively pursued a career in Hindi films, by appearing in supporting roles in three highly successful productions, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's Rang De Basanti (2006), Mani Ratnam's biopic Guru (2007) and Rajkumar Hirani's comedy-drama 3 Idiots (2009), which went on to become the highest-grossing Indian film of all time at the time of its release. During this time, Madhavan also simultaneously continued working in Tamil cinema with the films Evano Oruvan (2007) and Yavarum Nalam (2009).

Early life

Ranganathan Madhavan was born on 1 June 1970 in Jamshedpur, Bihar (now in Jharkhand), India, to a Tamil Brahmin family. His father, Ranganathan Iyengar, was a management executive in Tata Steel and his mother, Saroja, was a manager in the Bank of India. His younger sister, Devika, is a software engineer. He had a Tamil-speaking upbringing in Jharkhand. Madhavan did his schooling from D.B.M.S. English School Jamshedpur. In 1988, Madhavan gained a scholarship to represent India as a cultural ambassador from Rajaram College, Kolhapur and spent a year in Stettler, Alberta, Canada, as part of an exchange program with Rotary International. He returned to Kolhapur and completed his education, graduating with a BSc in Electronics. During his college years, Madhavan became actively involved in extra-curricular military training, and at 22, he was recognized as amongst the leading NCC cadets in Maharashtra, which allowed him to make a trip with seven others as NCC cadets to England. As a result of this opportunity, he received training with the British Army, the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force, which he had, at a point, considered joining. However he missed the age cut-off by six months and was subsequently unable to join the program. After he lost out on the place, he began teaching courses on public speaking and personality development skills in Kolhapur, and the satisfaction he gained through teaching, prompted him to pursue a post-graduation in public speaking at Kishinchand Chellaram College in Mumbai. During the period, he also won the Indian Championship for Public Speaking and subsequently represented India at the Young Businessmen Conference in Tokyo, Japan in 1992. During his stint in Mumbai, he opted to create a portfolio and submit it to a modeling agency in order to gain more income to set up an office.

Career

1996-1998: Early work

In early 1996, Madhavan worked on a sandalwood talc advertisement directed by Santosh Sivan, who later recommended him to Mani Ratnam to take part in a screen test for a role in Iruvar (1997). Madhavan was auditioned for the leading role of Tamizhselvan amongst several other more established actors, but Mani Ratnam eventually left him out of the project citing that he thought his "eyes looked too young" for a senior role. Prior to his film audition, Madhavan was spotted by a television executive while out walking in Lokhandwala in Mumbai, and was recruited to feature in Hindi television serials, appearing as a crook in his first venture Yule Love Stories. He appeared in leading roles in Zee TV's Banegi Apni Baat and Ghar Jamai, while he gained further popularity portraying the character of Shekhar in Saaya. He also went on to act as Lt. Shammi in Aarohan (The Ascent), as a ship's captain in Sea Hawks, as a convict in Yeh Kahan Aa Gaye Hum and worked as a television anchor in Tol Mol Ke Bol amongst other television appearances. His first appearance in a feature film role came through a small role in Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin (1996), where he portrayed a singer in a bar.

1999–2001: Breakthrough

In 1999, leading Indian director Mani Ratnam selected Madhavan to feature in the leading role of his Tamil romantic drama, Alaipayuthey (2000) and the film's subsequent critical and commercial success proved to be a breakthrough for him. Portraying the character of Karthik Varadharajan, a young husband experiencing difficulties with his marriage. Madhavan revealed that he studied the technical aspects of film-making from the director and learned the entire script of the film, irrespective of whether he was in the scene or not. He became the first debutant actor to be cast by Mani Ratnam in the lead role of a film, and revealed that when he found out that he was set to work with the director he was overcome with a "mixture of excitement, awe, fear and ambition". Featuring alongside actress Shalini, Madhavan's performance was well received by critics and the film's success led to it becoming a cult film. A critic from The Hindu described that Madhavan "sails through the litmus test with ease", whilst another review cited that Madhavan was a "promising debutant" into the film industry. His performance in the film earned him the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut – South, in addition to his first nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. After the success of his first Tamil film, the producers of his previous Kannada film, Shanti Shanti Shanti, dubbed the film into Tamil and released it as Relax, to capitalise on Madhavan's new-found success. Madhavan's next film, Ennavale (2000), garnered mixed reviews although Madhavan's portrayal was praised as the "mainstay" of the film, with claims that the film for him was a "merely a prosaic exercise".

Similarly his first lead role in a Hindi film, Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein (2001), a remake of his Minnale in which he reprised the same role for the remake, was also unsuccessful at the box office, with the film and Madhavan's performance receiving mixed reviews. However, the film later gained popularity through screenings on television and subsequently developed a cult following amongst young audiences.

2002–2004: Critical acclaim

In 2002, Madhavan played the role of a novelist in Mani Ratnam's Kannathil Muthamittal alongside actresses Keerthana, Simran and Nandita Das. In the film, he was shown as the role of the father of an adopted child, who wishes to return to her native homeland amidst the Sri Lankan civil war. The film received widespread critical acclaim and went on to win six National Awards as well as over ten awards at various International Film Festivals. Madhavan received critical acclaim for his portrayal with a critic citing "he lived the role of the character he portrays", with the film seeing him move away from the romantic hero image for the first time into a more serious, performance-oriented role. The good performance of the film internationally also helped him develop an overseas market for his films. He earned his second nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil for his performance in the film. Madhavan's next success came with Run, a film recognised for its screenplay, with Madhavan appearing in an action film for the first time in his career. In regard to his performance, The Hindu's critic noted "he manages to portray action with élan in Run and actually looks fit and comfortable in the role", with the film helping him make a breakthrough as an action hero. Despite another unsuccessful Hindi venture with the musical, Dil Vil Pyar Vyar (2002), the success of his previous films helped him secure the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor for 2002, being jointly recognised for both films.

2005–2008: Increased work in Hindi films

Madhavan appeared in another marriage drama film, Priyasakhi (2005) co-starring Sadha – with the pair playing an estranged husband and wife. The film received praise for the lead pair's performances with Madhavan being praised as "top class", while it also became the first Tamil film to be dubbed into Zulu.

From 2005 onwards, Madhavan increased his work in Hindi films and starred and wrote the Hindi dialogues for the comedy Ramji Londonwaley (2005), a remake of his earlier film Nala Damayanthi. Critics described his performance as "a master-stroke", though the film fared averagely at the box office due to the release of other big budget films during the period. He experienced box office success in Hindi films for the first time through his role in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's Rang De Basanti (2006). Featuring in an ensemble cast led by Aamir Khan, Madhavan essayed the guest role of Ajay Singh Rathod, a flight lieutenant, whose death triggers a revolutionary movement against corruption. The film was subsequently nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 2006 BAFTA Awards, while it was also chosen as India's official entry for the Golden Globe Awards and the Academy Awards for the Best Foreign Language Film category. Madhavan then collaborated with Mani Ratnam for the fifth time in the biopic Guru (2007), co-starring Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Vidya Balan. His role of Shyam Saxena was inspired from the life of real-life journalist S. Gurumurthy, who was a challenger to the business tycoon, Dhirubhai Ambani, whose life drew allusions with Bachchan's role. The film became a blockbuster and also received critical acclaim, with a reviewer citing that Madhavan acts with "extreme, believable sincerity" dubbing him as "truly a poster boy for India", whilst another claimed he performed "a weak role with élan".

2009–2015: Further success and sabbatical

Madhavan with Kangana Ranaut promoting Tanu Weds Manu in 2010
Madhavan won positive acclaim for playing the lead role in Vikram Kumar's horror film, Yavarum Nalam (2009). The film, which became a commercial and critical success, prompted a reviewer from the Times of India to suggest "he carried the film on his shoulders" while he was also nominated in the Best Actor category at the Vijay Awards. His following two films, the romantic comedy Guru En Aalu (2009) and the action film Sikandar (2009) in which he played a supporting role of an army officer, both fetched mixed reviews. Madhavan then starred in Rajkumar Hirani's comedy film, 3 Idiots (2009), alongside Aamir Khan and Sharman Joshi. Upon release, the film received widespread critical acclaim and went on to become the highest-grossing Indian film of all time at the time of its release. Madhavan's portrayal as a young engineer with a passion for photography earned him nominations for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor and the IIFA Award for Best Supporting Actor. Film critic Taran Adarsh from Bollywood Hungama described the actor's performance as "incredible", while Madhavan claimed that the film changed how he was viewed as an actor in Hindi films for the better. He later turned down an offer of reprising the same role in the Tamil remake of the film helmed by Shankar. In 2010, Madhavan appeared alongside actors Amitabh Bachchan and Ben Kingsley in Teen Patti (2010) as a young professor, with Adarsh again rating his performance as "excellent", but the film failed at the box office. His two guest appearances in the year also received mixed feedback with his performance in the Telugu anthology film Om Shanti (2010) being praised, whilst a role in the John Abraham-starrer Jhootha Hi Sahi (2010) drew him criticism. Madhavan then collaborated again with Kamal Haasan and K. S. Ravikumar in the romantic comedy, Manmadan Ambu (2010), playing a wealthy businessman who hires a spy to follow his actress girlfriend on a European cruise tour. The film opened to positive reviews with Madhavan's performance being described by Rediff.com as "excellent", while Sify.com labelled him the "scene-stealer".

His only release in 2011 was the romantic comedy-drama Tanu Weds Manu alongside Kangana Ranaut, which saw him play the role of a sensible doctor hoping to get an arranged marriage with a girl, who has a dramatically diverse personality to him. Prior to release, the film's promotional campaign created anticipation and upon release, the film proved to be a major success at the box office. Madhavan's portrayal of Manoj Kumar Sharma a.k.a. Manu won positive acclaim, with a reviewer citing that his performance was "real, restrained, yet forceful" and another claiming he was "perfectly cast". Madhavan next appeared as a police officer in Linguswamy's Tamil film Vettai (2012), an action entertainer featuring an ensemble cast of Arya, Amala Paul and Sameera Reddy. The film opened to positive reviews in January 2012 and went on to become a commercial success, with critics praising Madhavan's decision to accept the role of a timid cop, while a critic noted that he had "an uncanny talent for comedy". He then featured in Jodi Breakers (2012), a Hindi romantic comedy film shot in Greece alongside Bipasha Basu, though the film did not perform well commercially.

2018–present: Recent work and upcoming projects

Madhavan at the first look launch of Rocketry with Nambi Narayanan and Anant Mahadevan in 2019
Madhavan next worked on a web series for Amazon titled Breathe, which was released in January 2018. Madhavan later revealed that he was initially sceptical of the web series format, but was "totally blown away" by the script of the series by Mayank Sharma and decided to accept to work on the project, despite his commitments for the shoot of Vikram Vedha. For Breathe, Madhavan studied his own experience as a father besides researching the complexities surrounding organ donation. In the series, he played Danny Mascarenhas, a soccer coach and the father of a young boy with cystic fibrosis, who will die in six months unless he has a lung transplant. Madhavan received positive reviews for his portrayal, with film critic Subhash K. Jha writing "As Danny, Madhavan expresses grief, rage, frustration, guilt, repentance and self-destruction with measured excellence" and that "this is a showcase for an actor at the peak of his power" and "boy, does Madhavan embrace the opportunity". Similarly, a critic from the New Indian Express wrote "Madhavan is in form in a potentially compelling thriller", and a reviewer from the International Business Times wrote he "shows a range of emotions" in "a smooth, beautiful way".

His first full-length role in a Telugu film was through Savyasachi (2018), where he portrayed the antagonist in a cast headlined by Naga Chaitanya. Despite the film's average response at the box office, Madhavan won positive reviews for his performance, with a critic noting his "impressive performance" was the "saving grace of the film". Following an extended guest appearance in the Hindi film Zero (2018) alongside Shahrukh Khan and Anushka Sharma, Madhavan appeared in the bilingual thriller film Nishabdham, which was shot entirely in Seattle. The film began as a silent film, before the makers chose to insert dialogue and create Tamil and Telugu versions. In 2021, he played the title role in Maara (2021), garnering positive reviews for his portrayal of a vagabond artist from Kochi.

Between 2017 and 2022, Madhavan worked on his first film as a director, Rocketry: The Nambi Effect (2022), a biopic on Indian rocket scientist Nambi Narayanan. Alongside his directorial, screenwriting and acting credits, Madhavan also served as one of the producers of the project. During the pre-production phase, Madhavan referred to the project as his "biggest film ever" and stated that he had worked silently on the script of the film for a period of two years after becoming intrigued by hearing the tale of Narayanan's false espionage charge. In order to develop the script, Madhavan regularly met with Narayanan to discuss the scientist's life experiences. As a result of their conversations, Madhavan altered his original script to include portions from Narayanan's entire career and his services to the Indian space programme, rather than just matters related to the espionage case and his 1994 arrest. The film was shot as a trilingual venture, with scenes simultaneously filmed in the Hindi, Tamil, and English languages. The film premiered at the Marché du Film section of the 2022 Cannes Film Festival in France in May 2022, and had a theatrical release two months later. The film received positive reviews from critics. Devesh Sharma of Filmfare wrote "Madhavan carries the film on his shoulders" and that "he lives and breathes the character, getting the nuances right", adding "it"s not easy being both the lead actor and the director but Madhavan achieves the desired trajectory on both fronts". Meanwhile, Ronak Kotecha noted "Rocketry takes off well, hits some turbulence on the way, but eventually soars high with real characters and moving moments that make it worth your while". The film subsequently won Madhavan several awards during the following year, including the National Film Award for Best Feature Film and the IIFA Award for Best Director.

Madhavan has several projects in the production phase. He will portray the lead role in S. Sashikanth's directorial debut Test, a sports drama co-starring Nayanthara and Siddharth. He has also committed to feature in two films produced by Mediaone Global Entertainment, a family drama shot in London by Mithran R. Jawahar and a biopic of Indian engineer Gopalswamy Doraiswamy Naidu by Krishnakumar Ramakumar. Madhavan has also shot for the Hindi films Black Magic, Amriki Pandit and Hisaab Barabar, and the series The Railway Men. He is also attached to feature in the lead role of Rajesh Touchriver's biopic of Chempakaraman Pillai, a supporting role in Karan Singh Tyagi's biopic of C. Sankaran Nair, and Swati Singha's science-fiction film, G.

Other projects

Film and television work

Madhavan was first credited as a part of the technical crew for his work in Ramji Londonwaley, an adaptation of his Tamil film Nala Damayanthi. Apart from portraying the lead role, Madhavan worked on the film as a dialogue writer and played an active role in determining the crew of the movie. In October 2007, Madhavan founded the production company, Leukos Films, and consequently bought the rights of his film, Evano Oruvan, from producers Abbas–Mustan and K. Sera Sera. Securing sponsorship deals with HSBC and Santoor, Madhavan premièred the film across North America and the Middle East before its Indian theatrical release, with the promotion method being used for the first time in Tamil cinema. However, since the relative box office failure of the project, Madhavan downplayed future involvement in production ventures. The film, which Madhavan referred to as a "part of his life" during 2007, also saw him write the dialogues for the film along with Seeman by translating lines from the project's original version in the Marathi language. Madhavan then chose to become actively involved in the production of his 2016 bilingual films, Irudhi Suttru in Tamil and Saala Khadoos in Hindi, to ensure the film completed filming and had a theatrical release. Impressed by the strength of Sudha Kongara's script for the Tamil film, Madhavan felt that the story had pan-Indian appeal and took the film's script to Rajkumar Hirani, who agreed to produce and supervise work on the film's Hindi version. Madhavan co-produced the Hindi version of the film through his new production house, Tricolor Films, while leading the film's pan-Indian marketing campaign. The actor also helped finalise the film's lead actress, Ritika Singh, and was also credited as an additional screenplay writer in the films.

Madhavan has appeared as host for television programs on Hindi channels, while he has also been a host at film award functions. During his television career in the 1990s, Madhavan first worked as a host on Tol Mol Ke Bol. He was announced as the host of Sony Entertainment Television's Deal Ya No Deal, the Indian version of the American game show Deal or No Deal, in October 2005. However, Madhavan quit as the lead anchor of the show in January 2006 claiming he was unhappy with the way the shoot schedules were handled by the production house. According to the actor, when he took on the show, he had made it clear that he would continue with his South Indian film assignments, and as the show was being filmed in Mumbai, he had found it hard to keep traveling throughout India from Chennai to film the ten days a month he had signed up for. Madhavan added that he was restricted by the producers to spend one day rehearsing technically, which left him with fatigue. Mandira Bedi subsequently replaced Madhavan as the anchor in February for Series 2 of the game show. In June 2010, Madhavan made a comeback to the game show format by accepting a contract with Imagine TV's Big Money show, signing on to host a single season, and then hosted an episode of the crime show Savdhaan India in January 2016. Furthermore, he has been a guest judge in the Indian television show, Fame Gurukul. In 2016, Madhavan stated that he would only take part in television commitments for money, while he does not consider his payment when signing on to appear in films. Madhavan has also hosted live events, notably the National Film Awards in 2013 with Huma Qureshi. He was also the host of the 55th Filmfare Awards South in Chennai in 2008 and then also the Vijay Awards in 2013.

Brand ambassador

Madhavan is amongst the leading brand ambassadors for products in India. His early work involved advertisements for brands including Bajaj, Ponds, Fair & Lovely and TVS, before signing a major endorsing deal with Pepsi and marketing company, IMG. In 2007, Madhavan endorsed UniverCell, a multi-brand mobile phone retail chain owned by UniverCell Telecommunications India Pvt Ltd. Madhavan signed a contract with the mobile phone network, Airtel for promotions in South India before being promoted as the pan-Indian ambassador for the brand a year later. His advertisements with Vidya Balan for Airtel won critical acclaim, and brought in film offers for the pair to feature together. In June 2010, marketers from Arun Excello promoted a housing project in Oragadam, Chennai in a similar fashion to the release of a new film featuring Madhavan. With film-inspired posters and billboards put up around Chennai, the advertisement campaign attracted huge curiosity and the project became a success. His long-term work with jewellery brand, Joy Alukkas, led to the company creating life size wax models of him to place in their showrooms from January 2011. Maruti Suzuki, for whom Madhavan is the brand ambassador, launched a special edition of the Suzuki Wagon R car calling it the Madhavan Signature Edition in September 2013. In 2015, online market place Snapdeal signed on Aamir Khan and Madhavan to be the company's ambassadors, with Snapdeal attempting to use Madhavan's popularity in South India to marker their services.

Humanitarian causes

Madhavan, who is a vegetarian, promotes vegetarianism and is an active member of PETA. Since joining PETA after starring in his first film, he has appeared voluntarily in several advertisements and released an E-Card for the brand. In July 2006, Madhavan was voted the "cutest male vegetarian" by an online poll conducted by the PETA, while Kareena Kapoor won the female award respectively. In turn he cited that his success in the competition was due to his "healthy vegetarian diet". In October 2010, he wrote a letter to the CEO of Kentucky Fried Chicken, on behalf of PETA, urging them to stop mistreatment of birds by the fast-food industry outlets and the killing of animals. He requested the boycott of KFC in India over animal welfare and conditions and was joined by Raveena Tandon and Rakhi Sawant in supporting the work of PETA in India. In addition, Madhavan was named PETA India's 2012 "Person Of The Year", while his son won PETA India's "Compassionate Kid award" in December 2014.

Madhavan has lent his support for the Chennai-based charity, The Banyan, and appeared in the charity musical Netru, Indru, Naalai directed by Mani Ratnam for the cause. He appeared as a guest cook and newly launched restaurant in Chennai and cooked dosas for auction for the charity, helping raise forty five thousand rupees. He has been a part of an AIDS awareness programme initiated by Richard Gere in India and helped advertise the A Time for Heroes campaign appearing in a short film. Similarly Madhavan featured in a four-minute film produced by Agaram Foundation, Herova? Zerova?, campaigning for educational awareness alongside Suriya, Vijay and Jyothika. In 2010, along with his cast and crew from 3 Idiots, he helped raise Rs. 2.5 million for the renovation of the school in Leh, which was damaged by flash floods. Madhavan laid bricks and tiles at the London Business School in July 2011, building a symbolic house to represent the 100,000 houses that will be built in India by 2015 as a part of Habitat for Humanity's campaign to improve substandard houses in India. During the 2015 South Indian floods, Madhavan worked alongside other Indian actors in coordinating the relief efforts. In 2016, Lepra India signed him to work as a goodwill ambassador in helping promote action against leprosy.

In the media

Madhavan is one of the few actors in India who garners pan-Indian appeal, with his success in establishing himself in the North and the South Indian film industries, seeing him receive multiple offers as a brand ambassador. Furthermore, it has led to producers offering him lead roles in bilingual films such as the English-Malayalam crossover film Nothing But Life and the Hindi-Tamil projects, Yavarum Nalam and Irudhi Suttru. Moreover, most of his Tamil films are dubbed into Telugu, where he has created a box office market without appearing in a single straight Telugu film as a lead actor (during the 2000s). Madhavan holds a significant female fan following, which developed after his romantic roles in Alaipayuthey and Minnale. Madhavan has also been active in keeping in contact with fans, maintaining a fan email account, a Facebook fan page and a Twitter account as well as being one of the first actors of Tamil films to turn blogger with entries in the year 2000.

He has appeared at functions as a special guest, and has enjoyed particularly close links with technology company, Sify, whom he signed on as his media partner for all his future releases after expressing satisfaction at the website they created for Rendu. Madhavan sat amongst a six-man jury for the selection of CNN-IBN Indian of the Year 2006. He inaugurated the Chennai International Film Festival in 2007, taking the opportunity to deliver a message on preserving the environment.

A gaming company, Paradox Studios Limited, launched a new game compatible with mobile phones in July 2006, with Madhavan as the lead character. The company released two mobile game titles featuring Madhavan as their lead character. The first of the two games, Madhavan's MIG, featured the actor reprising his role of a pilot from Rang De Basanti. In the other game titled Madhavan, the player had to help the actor get to the première of his latest movie evading the paparazzi. In 2007, prominent entrepreneur N. R. Narayana Murthy requested Madhavan to be his interviewer at the India-Singapore Exposition and Madhavan went on to claim that the experience was "unforgettable" as Murthy was an idol to him. Madhavan has attended conferences as a motivational speaker, talking about issues including situational awareness and confidence, with a speech delivered at Damodaran Academy of Management, Coimbatore going viral online. Madhavan also took part and delivered speeches as a part of the annual India Conference at Harvard University during 2017.

Personal Life

After completing the degree, he went on to teach communication and public speaking at workshops around India. At the Maharashtra workshop, he encountered his wife Sarita Birje for the first time in 1991, when she attended his class on the recommendation of her cousins. Sarita was able to use the skills she had learned from Madhavan's classes to pass an interview to become an air hostess and after completing the course, the pair began dating. They married in 1999, before Madhavan entered mainstream films. The pair's marriage has been covered by the media, with Madhavan citing that advice from his mentor Mani Ratnam was useful. Sarita has worked as a costume designer in a few of Madhavan's films, most notably for Guru En Aalu (2009), when she worked along with Erum Ali, the wife of Madhavan's co-star, Abbas, for their respective husbands. Their son, Vedaant, was born on 21 August 2005,[verification needed] which eventually led to relocating to the boat-club area in Chennai from Kilpauk, where Madhavan's parents lived with him as well as his parents-in-law. In 2009, Madhavan relocated to Kandivali, Mumbai, with his wife and son, as he pursued a career in Hindi films ahead of films in the South Indian industries.

Madhavan has maintained close links with fellow actors and has described actor Suriya as his best friend in the film industry. The actor also is close friends with actresses Shilpa Shetty and Bipasha Basu, as well as actors Aamir Khan and Abhishek Bachchan. He is closely associated with actor Kamal Haasan, after their appearance together in Anbe Sivam, and has revealed that he considers the actor as his inspiration. He has also collaborated multiple times with directors Mani Ratnam, Rajkumar Hirani and Aanand Rai, citing that the film makers "understand him well" and share a good "comfort level". He has also helped out actresses Reemma Sen, Sadha and Nisha Kothari by signing them on for roles in his films, when they were going through a barren spell.

Madhavan announced a sabbatical from films in late 2010 citing he would take the time off to visit London, lose weight, play golf, take treatment for his knee injury and spend time with family. Though he kept away from starting new projects, during the period he was involved in the promotional activity of two of his releases, Manmadan Ambu and Tanu Weds Manu. He later made a comeback, earlier than anticipated, after director Linguswamy convinced him to work on Vettai. The actor later took an extended sabbatical from 2012 onwards to work on his fitness and get into shape for his role as a retired boxer in Irudhi Suttru. Madhavan is a keen golf player, having played for pleasure alongside actor Amitabh Bachchan and director Mani Ratnam, while also appearing in a celebrity charity event in 2007. In 2017, he won the qualification round of the Mumbai leg of the Mercedes Trophy golf meet and subsequently qualified for the National Finals. He also made an appearance for Chennai Rhinos in the 2011 Celebrity Cricket League, playing against Karnataka Bulldozers. His experiences flying Cessna planes when he was with National Cadet Corps, also led to a passion for aero-modelling, with the actor stating it "justified his decision" to pursue a degree in electronics.

Madhavan's son Vedaant is a professional swimmer who has represented India in the Danish Open Swimming Meet, where he won a silver medal.