A few years ago, R. Madhavan took a sabbatical from movies. He wanted to re-evaluate his career and rediscover his passion. His new project — the Amazon Prime Original Breathe — ticks all the right boxes for Madhavan. t2 caught up with the 47-year-old to talk about the new medium, why politics is not for him and his rediscovered sex symbol status. 

You’re coming off two gigantic Tamil blockbusters, Irudhi Suttru and Vikram Vedha. Why Breathe?

I was sceptical initially. I knew that all of India is into watching digital content and watching international series. I had seen the advertisements all over the roads, and people talking about the characters. I remember someone in Kolhapur calling another guy Jon Snow! When that level of percolation has happened, you realise that this is the next level of entertainment. But I wasn’t so sure that the content coming out of India was ready to compete with international content. Once you’re on a global platform, you are going to get compared. 

When Breathe came to me, I was sceptical until I was told that it’s a show for Amazon. And then Mayank (Sharma, the director) told me the story and explained how the story graph lent itself to an eight-episode format. I was totally blown. 

Internationally, it’s a medium that’s attracted a lot of A-listers. We are still taking baby steps in India. Now that you’ve taken the plunge, what makes it an attractive medium for a creative person?

This is a tough medium to work in as an actor. I shot all eight episodes over a period of, let’s say, 50 days. At 40 minutes per episode, you’re talking about 320 minutes of footage. That’s almost like shooting four films! Which means you have to keep track of what you’re doing on the third day knowing that this will be the 60-second scene in the third episode, or what you do on the last day knowing that this will be the second scene in the first episode. So, the character graph has to be spot-on. I actually kept physical notes and it’s very important to keep the connectivity real. 

Do you see this medium being the future of entertainment?

It’s going to be big, but I don’t think it will replace cinema. Films will always be big and film stars will always be at the top of the food chain, without a doubt.

There is less footfall in Hollywood and in Bollywood as well. So how does cinema safeguard its position as the biggest means of entertainment?

Very easily answered. Cinema, like I said, has to be larger-than-life. Your characters and storytelling have to be larger-than-life. It has to be aspirational. So when you look at a Tanu Weds Manu, they are common people but their personalities are aspirational. I cannot watch Spider-Man, Superman or Avatar on television — it’s an insult to that content. 

There was a Marathi film called Sairat. On the day of its release, an entire pirated version of it was on YouTube. Despite that, people went multiple times to theatres to watch it and it did (Rs) 90 crore only in Bombay, because the content was what you wanted to watch on the big screen. Things will change... things like people saying, ‘I have a great story’ or ‘I have dates of an actor, let’s make a movie’ is all going to go out. You have to design, plan and execute a larger-than-life product that renders itself to community watching on the first weekend.

Your last Hindi film, Saala Khadoos, was two years ago. When do we see you in a Hindi film next?

I’m quite happy waltzing because this year is full of that kind of content. I’m doing a biopic on a rocket scientist (Nambi Narayanan) in Hindi, a negative lead in a Hindi film, two Tamil films... so it’s a blocked calendar, but it’s also the kind of content I’ve been waiting for my entire life. 

What about the remake of Vikram Vedha?

That’s definitely on the cards. The producers are in the process of putting it together and getting the dialogues written in Hindi, and once that’s done they’ll decide with the director and the cast. I don’t even know if I’m part of it yet. I’m not the producer, so I don’t have a call but I do believe that doing a remake of your own film is a big curse. It’s a bigger challenge than doing the original, so we’ll just have to wait and see.

Your colleagues from the Tamil film industry — Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan — have announced their future in politics. How do you see these developments?

I think they’re great achievers and have a sense of responsibility. So a change is always welcome — I’m very open to anything that does good for the common man, in any state. Both Rajini Sir and Kamal Sir have large fan followings and with the help of that, if they’re able to divert that passion into the benefit of the state, it’s a phenomenal thing to happen.

Does politics interest you? 

One of the reasons I didn’t become a director is that I lack leadership qualities. Forget politics, I don’t think I have the ability to be a director.

Last year you posted a photo on Instagram that went viral and triggered this rediscovery of your sex symbol status...

I think it’s just a blessing in disguise. I never expected that, it’s not a designed aspect of my career but I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. While it lasts, might as well enjoy it. But as you get older, there’s a deepening of the voice, there are things about you that change — sometimes it becomes more appealing and sometimes it just puts you in an abysmal corner. I’m just happy that there is renewed interest in the way I look! (Laughs)

What does your wife think of all the attention?

Both of us are kind of amused.

I have a crush on Madhavan because... Tell t2@abp.in