To stay true to his character R Madhavan had to train for a year and a half in Malaysia. In a candid chat, he tells Shrabasti Mallik why he wanted to cast a professional boxer for the movie and the difficulties he faced while finding a producer
Tell us about Saala Khadoos and your character of Adi Tomar.
Saala Khadoos is a film about two people who are defeated in their lives and how they find boxing and as underdogs how they achieve the ultimate goal in that sport.
Adi Tomar is a retired boxer who is hated by his friends and his community because he is very good at boxing. He is very muhfat, direct and very foul - mouthed. He also does not listen to rules and does not do illegal things. Basically, he defies the norms and that’s why people hate him.
You have also put in a lot of weight to look like your character. Have you gone through any special trainingIJ
Yes, in fact I have. I went to los Angeles to learn how to box and how to be and look like a boxer. I trained for about a year and a half. It was quite long, wasn’t itIJ (laughs)
Was it a conscious decision to get a professional boxer on boardIJ
Absolutely. I wanted the movie to look really real. That is why I did not want to take any chances with me or the girl not knowing how to box. And we achieved that, we found a girl who was really good at boxing.
What was the search likeIJ
It was actually a tall order we had. I had to find someone of my daughter’s age who knows how to box and has to be a world class boxer. She should want to act and look like an actress. Also her parents should allow her to act. You know, when these movies are supposed to be made you find these people without much effort. For me, it just happened quickly. It was like we ordered and it was done.
Where did you find Ritika SinghIJ
I actually met her at the Super Fight league that Raj Kundra had organised. Ritika is a mixed martial arts fighters.
Despite a good script you faced initial problems of finding a producer. Why do think this happenedIJ
Because people could not see the story. They would not always see it correctly. They thought it was not commercially viable because we had a boxer in mind and a lady director from the South (Sudha Kongara Prasad). But it was all fair. I did not want to change the set up of the film because of that. So when i finally narrated the story to Raju ji (Rajkumar Hirani) he was very convinced and it was done.
Mary Kom was a movie which dealt with boxing and in a few monthsDangal will also be released. Why is there a sudden focus on this particular sportIJ
I think it is literally and honestly a sheer co incidence. We started making this film before Mary Kom and I am sure that Dangal was thought of even before us. So it is absolutely a coincidence that this is happening. We have never intentionally decided that.
Why do you take such long gaps between filmsIJ
Well, it takes a long time to get my kind of story. A film jo sunte hi pata chal jaye maddy ki film hai. It would have been easy to do three films a year with a hit and two flops. But that does not excite me. I feel like that if I meet you everyday, you will come and ask me the same question ‘tell us about the movie’. Even you get bored as the media and so does the public. I believe in making films where people will want to do some research. If the media is interested in a movie the audience is excited three times more.
How’d you describe a ‘Maddy wala film’IJ
Bilkul real, alag. Ek aisa film jise dekh ke insaan ko lage k bhai thosa sa agar main mehnat karu na to main Maddy se agey badh sakta hoon. Woh wali films.
The movie is also releasing in Tamil...
Economically it makes more sense because you get both the films at 40 per cent of the cost. Moreover, it is a pan Indian subject.
You have been in the industry for a long time. How have you seen the industry developing over all these yearsIJ
The Hindi film has become more and more intelligent and wide spread in terms of their subjects. They can make films like Piku, Masaan and Tanu Weds Manu. You cannot make that in the south anymore. That is the biggest change that I have seen in the past three four years.
Any change you want to see in the future.
I would like to see more films like Bahubali being made in Hindi. It was a CGI and a fantasy film but the way the story was told was phenomenal.
photo Pankaj Kumar