‘I didn’t know I was a star when I was working in movies’
She is the leading lady of Roja (1992), the film that went on to win three National awards. Whoever was associated with that film became a star. Yet, for a long time after, the female lead, actor Madhoo, didn’t register that she had become a name.
“I didn’t know I was a star when I was working in movies. It was only after I took a break that I realised how successful I was,” says Madhoo, who did films intermittently, as she got busy raising kids. She slowed down after 1998, did no films at all between 2001 to 2008, took up few projects afterwards. But she has had no film these past three years. Now she is reuniting with her Roja co-star Arvind Swamy.
Besides two Tamil films and a Hindi one, she has signed a bi-lingual film with Arvind. “Everything has its own time. I wasn’t actively working all these years. Now, that the word has spread that I am back, I’ve bagged these films. I was overjoyed to work with Arvind again. He is a friend and we’ve kept in touch over the years,” she says.
The Phool Aur Kaante (1991) actor adds, “I am an artiste, I realised that when I was on a break. In 2019, I’ve already paired up with actors I worked with in the past, including Prabhu Ganesanji and Sarathkumarji. My movies with them will release soon. I’d love to team up with new and young actors, and senior actors like Shah Rukh Khan and Rajinikanth sir, who are my favourites. But what excites me is that my former co-stars such as Arvind and Ajay Devgn are still working, teaming up with them will be fabulous.”
Recalling the success of Roja, Madhoo says, “When I was doing Roja, I never thought it would be an epic film or make my career or that it was an awesome role in a great film that would be remembered for years. I followed Mani (Ratnam; director) sir and he made a film that he did. I was childish, naïve and innocent back then. Only after I quit the industry is when I understood how huge the movie became. Even today, people call me the Roja girl. I am glad to have been part of a movie which will remembered in history,” she concludes.