Madhavan on why Laal Singh Chaddha failed while Rocketry was a success: ‘My film was a biopic, could’ve worked in any time…’

Actor R Madhavan launched the teaser of his upcoming film Dhoka Round D Corner. Directed filmmaker Kookie Gulati, the film also stars debutante actor Khushali Kumar, Aparshakti Khurana and Darshan Kumaar.
At the press conference, Madhavan was asked why his 3 Idiots’ co-stars Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan’s latest film — Laal Singh Chaddha, failed at the box office, while his film Rocketry The Nambi Effect managed to pull audiences to the cinema halls. He answered that while the intent and hard work that has gone behind Laal Singh Chaddha was intense, the audience has now been exposed to ‘world cinema’ and uses it as a yardstick for judgement.
Madhavan said, “If we knew (why Laal Singh Chaddha didn’t work), we would all be making hit films, honestly. Nobody starts making a film thinking that they’re making a wrong film. The intent and the hard work behind it is just as intense as it is with every film that an actor works on. So all the big films that have released, their intent was to make a good film and make it work. I think the difference with my film was that I made a biopic so it is not time agnostic, it would have worked in any time, irrespective whether it was pre-Covid or post-Covid or anything.”

He also mentioned that audience in the post-Covid world have ‘completely changed’, and are exposed to world cinema. “So they’re going to judge you with that sort of a yardstick. So, it is nobody’s fault, I think it is going to take us a little time to pull up our socks and make screenplay that work very well in theatres,” he added.
Asked why he doesn’t remake his films, he shared that he was asked to remake 3 Idiots in Tamil. “I don’t remake my films anyway. I was asked to remake 3 Idiots in Tamil, I didn’t do it. It is difficult for me, as an actor, to do a scene first time, and then to recreate; it is impossible for me. There is comparison in remakes and the whole fun of doing a film goes away.”
He further said, “If the film is good, public will come to the theatres. When we talk about South films that have done well, let me tell you clearly that Bahubali 1, Bahubali 2, RRR, Pushpa, KGF 1 and 2, are the only south Indian films that have done better than movies of Hindi film actors. It is only six films, we can’t call it a pattern. If good films come, they’ll work. I think post Covid, people’s liking and preferences have changed because they’re consuming content from all around the world. So if we make the kind of films that they like, people will watch, with the kind of films that are coming today, we’ll have to become a little bit more progressive.”
About working on Dhoka Round D Corner, Madhavan said that after investing all his energies into making Rocketry, it was time for him to just pull back and get back to acting and leave aside production and direction.
He said, “I was tired of being Nambi Narayanan, I was lugging it around for the last six years. So, after directing, acting and producing a film and after being so involved in one project, I just needed to be an actor again. It was a relief to know that I can submit to a director. For me, that cleansing was very important.”
Dhoka Round D Corner, directed Kookie Gulati and produced Bhushan Kumar’s T-Series, is scheduled to release in theatres on September 23.