Madhavan has been around for close to a decade in the industry. Having successfully established himself as a household name, he’s conquering Bollywood at a steady pace. But the million dollar question, like his million dollar smile, is why isn’t he essaying more roles as a lead actor? Instead one sees him more in multi-starrer movies. Some of Madhavan’s biggest hits have been with movies like Rang De Basanti, Guru and Mumbai Meri Jaan.

For 2009 alone, he has two multi-starrer movies lined up with Sikandar, Teen Patti and 3 Idiots. Like their names suggest, Teen Patti has him teaming with Amitabh Bachchan and Siddharth Kher; 3 idiots sees him with Aamir Khan and Sharman Joshi. The actors presence and success in the role of solo hero have been few and far in between. The answer, according to the actor, is simply that he’s still seen as a newcomer. He also sportingly points out that many stars have come and gone, but his staying power has held him in good course. And Madhavan couldn’t be happier about the fact that filmmakers still want to cast him in movies that pull in class as well as the mass audience.