For now, I’m happy acting: R Madhavan

Nambi Narayan’s story was a passion, and I stepped up to make Rocketry, says the actor

His debut directorial Rocketry stopped short of becoming a hit though it received a positive response from audiences, but R Madhavan is happy with the outcome. Made at a budget of `25 crore, the film has garnered around `40 crore so far, but Maddy is counting the love and not the money. “I would have wanted the film to do `1000 crores in terms of collections, but it did not. However, the kind of love and respect I have got after making this film is unparalleled. I could not have earned it even if I made a `1000 crore film. I saw people clapping in the theatre, or sitting in their seats even after the film was over and then walking out in tears. Seeing that makes me proud,” says Madhavan. Nevertheless, Maddy wants to give direction a break. “It takes a director around a year and a half to earn the kind of money an actor does. So I will be an actor for a while longer. It is also difficult to find a subject like Rocketry worth sacrificing everything for. If I get a subject like that again, yes, I will do it. But for the time being I am very happy just acting,” he says. Madhavan is also happy that the response to his film shows how audience tastes are changing, and he’s still trying to get his head around that. “The tastes of people have changed after Covid and no one is able to predict their response. Word of mouth has become important. You cannot force a film down people’s throats anymore,” he says.

Incidentally, Madhavan was not the original director of Rocketry — he only stepped in when Ananth Mahadevan opted out. “I had written the film and wanted to act in it,” he says. “Ananth left the project for some reason. The choices were to either drop it or direct it myself. I realised it was my responsibility. I guess I rose to the occasion and taking that risk proved worthwhile,” adds the actor. And ultimately, Madhavan says, it was the strength of Nami Narayan’s story that compelled him to take the plunge into directing.

“Nambi is not my father or a relative. But there are some things that enter you that cannot leave you, and Nambi Narayan’s story was like that,” he says.