R MADHAVAN REINVENTING THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE COMMON MAN

The actor's recent turn as a honest middleclass ticket checker in Zee5's Hisaab Barabar, is a tribute to new-age version of the everyman archetype

- By Ananya Ghosh

After his terrifying turn as the largerthan-life eponymous character in Vikas Bahl's supernatural horror movie, Shaitaan, last year, R Madhavan is back and this time he is the 'common man'.

In Ashwni Dhir's Hisaab Barabar (streaming on ZEE5 Global) he plays Radhe Mohan Sharma, an honest and meticulous Indian Railways' ticket checker, who after accidentally stumbling upon some discrepancies in a bank account, goes on to uncover a corporate bank's full-blown billiondollar scam, eventually getting pitted against the entire system. It is the quintessential story of the common man standing up against institutional fraud. Although one has seen him play a version of the common man in Tanu Weds Manu, in Hisaab Barabar Madhavan seamlessly becomes the middleaged working-class protagonist, shedding every bit of his star persona.

Working simultaneously in Tamil and Hindi cinema, Madhavan was one of the rare few true pan-Indian star, much before it was even a thing. He first charmed the nation in the '90s with his cutesy smile in TV shows like Ghar Jamai, Sea Hawks, and Saaya, and later became a household name with movies like Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein, 3 Idiots, Rang De Basanti, and Tanu Weds Manu. In the last few years, he has gone on to establish his versatility as an actor with a wide-ranging selection of movies and shows that include the likes of Maara, Rocketry: The Nambi Effect, Decoupled, The Railway Men, and Breathe. We caught up with the actor to talk about his experience of stepping into the shoes of the new-age common man.

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