R. Madhavan has finally spoken out on the criticism he faces for working with much younger actresses in films. The actor clarified that audiences often “misunderstand” such pairings, stressing that his choices are rooted in storytelling, not glamor.
R Madhavan, an actor known for his nuanced performances and earthbound attitudes, was questioned on one of the most growing criticisms today in Bollywood regarding the age-gap pairings which are mostly that of older male stars with much younger actresses. While promoting his latest Netflix release Aap Jaisa Koi, the actor took some time discussing how the public perception could skew such on-screen collaborations.
R. Madhavan Breaks Silence on Age-Gap Pairing trolls
Madhavan would have told how in some cases a casual heartwarming act on social media could end up being misconstrued. Recounting one such incident, he pitched he received a text message from a very young fan praising his acting while having added heart and kiss emojis in her text. He replied with, “Thank you, that’s very kind of you. God bless.” But when the girl posted a screenshot, there were many that thought he was commenting on the hearts or kisses rather than her message. “My intention was not to reply to hearts and kisses,” he clarified, showing just how tricky these things are going to be for social media optics.
Bollywood’s Changing Norms on Romance
As far as screen pairing is concerned, Madhavan observed that there is now a great change in Bollywood that is positively taking shape on the romance front. He stated that the time when older heroes ended up getting paired with much younger heroines is slowly after all going out of fashion-and for a good cause. As clearly and increasingly, public criticism starts to emerge and change the expectation of the audience, filmmakers are now being drawn into such more age-appropriate and authentic love stories.
While joking about how “people feel that the actor is just living it up at the heroine’s cost,” the message becomes clear: storytelling must honor the context in real life, the emotional heft of the character, and not merely star power or glamour.
Art, Not Trend
Joining Madhavan in that he would choose roles on emotional truth rather than commercial trends is interesting. Madhavan looks back on playing a college student in his 40s and admits that it could feel off sometimes. He really would prefer a love story with a certain amount of emotion that felt real and relatable.