R Madhavan says his neighbours thought he would never be successful when he was a child, but his working parents transformed his life and proved them wrong

R Madhavan has spoken about how neighbours in his housing society believed he and his sister had no future, because both their parents held jobs and no one was home supervising their studies or homework.

The actor made the comments in a recent interview with M9 News, recounting experiences from his childhood that shaped his view on working parents and societal expectations.

'They Thought I Will Never Be Successful'


Madhavan said the assumption in his neighbourhood was straightforward. Because both parents worked and the children were largely left to play on their own, people around them concluded the siblings were headed nowhere.

"Everybody in my society thought because both my parents were working and nobody was taking care of me doing my homework, and both my sister and I used to be mildly playing on the ground, that these two people are done for," he said. "They're never going to become a success in their life."

He said his parents were repeatedly made to feel guilty for prioritising their careers. "My parents were constantly made to feel guilty that they're both working and neglecting the children," he said. "Oh, how can you give importance to work over children."

R Madhavan's Working Parents and What They Actually Gave Him

Madhavan said the criticism directed at his parents was misplaced. He said it was because both of them worked that he got opportunities his neighbours could not give their own children.

"I think it's because both of them working that I got the experiences that I did," he said. "We were able to afford my trips as an exchange student and scholarships to other countries that transformed me and made me who I am compared to the rest of the people in my society."

He described his mother as very strong and said his father similarly refused to be defined by what people around them said. "I'm very glad that both my parents were working and they both set the right example for me," he said.

R Madhavan's Father Cried When Told He Wouldn't Become an Engineer

In the same interview, Madhavan also revisited a moment that has drawn comparisons to his own role in 3 Idiots, where his character Farhan has a defining conversation with his father about choosing his own path over a conventional career.

Madhavan's father, Ranganathan, was a management executive at Tata Steel and had a clear plan for his son, engineering, a job with the Tatas, and a settled life in Jamshedpur.

Madhavan said he told his father none of that was for him. "I didn't want to live a routine life in Jamshedpur and do the same thing for 30 years in a row, which my dad did with a great amount of ease. That was not me," he said.

He recalled telling his father: "I don't know what I want to be, appa, but I do know that I don't want to be an engineer, doing the same job."

His father's response was to break down. "He was moved to tears and asked me, 'I wonder what I have done wrong with you,'" Madhavan said.

R Madhavan's Latest Release GDN

Madhavan's latest film, GDN, is currently in theatres. Directed by Krishnakumar Ramakumar, it is a biopic of inventor and engineer GD Naidu. The film also stars Sathyaraj, Jayaram, Priyamani, and Dushara Vijayan.