R Madhavan: I cover up my insecurities with some excuses

Madhavan, who plays a self-centred writer in Decoupled, discusses his insecurities as an actor — from wanting six-pack abs to finding age-appropriate roles

At first, Arya Iyer can be quite a handful, almost unlikeable, as he rants about the barricades on city roads or emphasises his right to walk in the buff in the men’s locker room. But trust R Madhavan to lend his innate charm to the role and bring it alive in Decoupled. “I wanted to see how I could make Arya acceptable without making him a jerk. He is one of those guys who say things as they are; he does not have any filters,” says the actor.

Surveen Chawla and R Madhavan in the series

The Manu Joseph creation, also starring Surveen Chawla, revolves around a married couple on the verge of separation. Not wasting its time on maudlin display of emotions, the Netflix series instead studies two individuals, who have grown apart, through the lens of humour. “You realise there is nothing wrong between Arya and Shruti [Chawla’s character] — there is no infidelity or abuse. They have become two different people over a period of eight years.” The actor, married to Sarita for 22 years, knows the secret to a rock-solid marriage. “When we were getting married, I thought I am the rockstar and she is the sweet girl [in the marriage]. Within two years, I learnt it was the opposite. She seems to have 40 hours in a day, and gives me the freedom to pursue my lazy career. I have immense admiration for women because of people like Sarita, my mother and my sister.”

While the actor has enjoyed a flourishing career in Tamil and Hindi cinema over the past 20 years, he admits to battling his share of insecurities. “Whenever I see an actor put up a [picture] of his six-pack or eight-pack abs, I am like, ‘What the hell are you doing, Maddy? How did you even survive here?’ When I see them acting with phenomenal heroines like Deepika Padukone and Anushka Sharma, I think, ‘Tu kab aisi picture karega?’ Such insecurities are there. I cover them up [by telling myself] that I have to do age-appropriate roles, and I don’t want to do anything silly. My excuses keep me sane, but some of my excuses also make me lazy,” he says, before joking, “I need to work on my six-pack one of these days.”

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