Madhavan on his character in Shaitaan, “This creature I play is so evil, he is way beyond my comprehension of wickedness”

By Subhash K. Jha -

March 5, 2024 - 5:35 PM IST

R Madhavan is very nervous about his on-release film Shaitaan. “I’ve never done anything like this before. This… this… creature that I play is so evil, he is way beyond my comprehension of wickedness. He is diabolic, he is…. Wicked,” he said.

Madhavan on his character in Shaitaan, “This creature I play is so evil, he is way beyond my comprehension of wickedness”

Madhavan has not seen Shaitaan as yet. “I am in Dubai right now. I will be back before release. But when I saw myself during dubbing, I was scared: is that really me? The fun part of my job is that I get do things I can never imagine doing in real life,” he said.

Madhavan, who was seen in 2022 in the self-directed bio-pic Rocketry: The Nambi Effect, feels his dive into diabolism may shock his fans. “They would never expect me to play something so nasty. I’ve always played sweet-natured guys, positive characters. This is my first deep dive into evil, and it scared the hell out of me. I couldn’t imagine there was this lurking in my personality,” he said.

Madhavan gives full marks to Ajay Devgan for seeing him as such a vile avatar. “Ajay is a producer in Shaitaan. He could’ve easily cast himself in the antagonist’s role. Instead, he picked me. When we started shooting, the film had no title. As the shooting progressed, Ajay insisted that the film be titled after my character. ‘This is about the Shaitaan, he is the catalyst,’ Ajay said. I have seldom worked with a more secure and generous co-actor,” said Madhavan.

Madhavan lets out that his son Vedant is very keen to watch Shaitaan. “I agreed on one condition: he will have to watch my film Rehna Hai Terre Dil Mein three times to get all the toxicity out of his system,” said the actor.

So far, the horror genre in Hindi cinema has mostly been associated with low-budget outputs featuring middling stars. Times are changing. We now have A-listers Ajay Devgan and Madhavan featuring in Shaitaan, a diabolical thriller where Madhavan plays Satan’s disciple. Ajay Devgan and Jyotika play a couple whose daughter is possessed by an evil spirit played by Madhavan.

Madhavan said, “Frankly, we are all nervous about Shaitaan. This is the first time that a bonafide horror film is being done on this level. We’ve given the genre a new classy look and feel. Let’s see how it is welcomed. My character is the unwelcome bin bulaye mehmaan. But with a twist. He is a completely twisted beast. I have almost always played the nice guy. This was new territory and very challenging,” he said.

Also Read: Shaitaan Trailer Launch: R Madhavan reveals his wife wanted him to ‘stay away from her’ after watching the film’s teaser