Actor Madhavan`s last film in Tamil was Vettai` directed by Lingusamy that released in early 2012. Despite that film being an average grosser Madhavan did not appear in any other film in Kollywood.

Even before or after Vettai` Madhavan has never been a actor who has lost his relevance He was ready to experiment and do different kind of roles offered to him without caring for his image. Yet he took a three year sabbatical, Now the talented actor has made a grand comeback with Tanu Weds Manu Returns` which is turning out to be a blockbuster.

In the exclusive Red Carpet` interview to Indiaglitz, the ever charming actor said it was a planned sabbatical and he learnt a lot about cinema, changes in the society that influence the expectations of today`s audience in this gap. Asked why he did not do any Tamil film in these three years, Madhavan said "I would have done expression number 78 and expression number 37 for every shot. The fire was missing. It was missing from my heart. I was fat and I did Tanu Weds Manu and it worked. So you become complacent and think everything is going to work. So I had a very heart to heart conversation with my wife Saritha. She said “Maddy, I can see that you have lost that Veri` which means fire. She said “it`s not good for you and it`s not good for us” and she said “go ahead. Do what you have to do to get it back. Unless we come back to living in that one bedroom apartment in Bombay I am not worried. So I actually put myself in a corner.

I have got insulted a lot. I did things that would shatter my ego. Whatever that I developed over a period of time. I walked to producers office, in small cars. Just to know to shield that fear of not having anything in front of you again. It did make a lot of difference. I am thankful to the people who actually even took it upon themselves to insult me.

One does enjoy the finer aspects of life Yeah I enjoyed my cars. I enjoyed being treated importantly. But the very thing that you enjoy is detrimental to your career. Because I did not know that the cutting chai cost eight rupees. I did not know that WhatsApp is used as the major form of romance and relationships. I did not know having a living partner or having a onetime relationship is such a abundant thing in a small town like Madurai or Tiruppur. It was things that I didn`t know that kept shocking me. That`s where I knew a Tanu Weds Manu` where a woman in a middle class household is having a surrogate baby is not going to be a shocking thing. Nobody talked about it. This is the kind of research that helps you understand that the audience have moved way ahead. They are watching Jurrasic Park` and they are watching Avengers` unless you give them graphics like that in Tamil cinema why will they come and see that. You have to give them which is close to their heart. So that break helped a lot in just understanding the audiences I am making a film for.

I will give you an example. My son came home and he said his friend is very upset. I asked why. He said “because both his fathers are getting divorced”. I am saying you mean father and the mother no?. My son is seven years old. He is saying “no, both his father papa” I din understand. He said they are gay. I said o, you know what gay is. “He said yes papa I know”, He said “they had a surrogate mother and one of the fathers fell in love with the mother and they had a problem so now they are separating and divorcing and my friend is upset.“

Anybody who has grand children in their house will know that when they (the children) are one year old they know about I-pads when they are two years old they teach you about the iPods. I have to make a film for this generation. I can`t hold hands and say love has happened. They are not going to believe it. So they want something which is their generation. I had to take that break to learn all these.

Now Madhavan has just finished working in a Hindi-Tamil bilingual titled as Saala Khadoos` in Hindi and Irudhi Chutru` In Tamil. He has acted as a boxing coach in this film and also produced it. The film has been directed by Sudha.K.Prasad.

Madhavan has also said that he is so keen to do a direct Tamil film, but he is to consider a lot of things including his age before signing his next film.