Ranganathan Madhavan (born 1 June 1970) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, film producer, and film director who predominantly works in Tamil and Hindi cinema. Madhavan has appeared in over 70 films, he has won one National Film Award, five Filmfare… Ranganathan Madhavan (born 1 June 1970) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, film producer, and film director who predominantly works in Tamil and Hindi cinema. Madhavan has appeared in over 70 films, he has won one National Film Award, five Filmfare Awards South, two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, and five SIIMA Awards. He was awarded Padma Shri by Government of India in 2026 in field of Art. Since September 2023, Madhavan is the President of FTII, Pune.
Madhavan attained his first break in Tamil cinema with Mani Ratnam's romantic drama Alai Payuthey (2000) and followed it with romantic roles in Gautham Vasudev Menon's directorial debut Minnale (2001) and Madras Talkies' Dumm Dumm Dumm (2001). He had major commercial successes in Run (2002), Thambi (2006) and Rendu (2006) and gained praise for his performances in Kannathil Muthamittal (2002), Anbe Sivam (2003), Nala Damayanthi (2003) and Aayutha Ezhuthu (2004). Towards the late-2000s, Madhavan inclined to Hindi films with pivotal roles in three highly successful productions: the patriotic Rang De Basanti (2006), Mani Ratnam's biopic Guru (2007) and the comedy-drama 3 Idiots (2009), which went on to become the highest-grossing Indian film of all time at the time of its release. Simultaneously, he continued to appear in Tamil films like Evano Oruvan (2007) and Yavarum Nalam (2009).
After delivering two box-office hits with Tanu Weds Manu (2011) and Vettai (2012), Madhavan took an acting break for 3 years and bounced back in 2015. His comeback films – the romantic comedy Tanu Weds Manu Returns (2015), the bilingual sports-drama Irudhi Suttru (2016) and the crime film Vikram Vedha (2017) all became critical and commercial successes. His portrayal of a boorish boxing coach in Irudhi Suttru fetched him Best Actor awards at the Filmfare, IIFA and SIIMA ceremonies. Madhavan made his directorial debut in Rocketry: The Nambi Effect (2022), in which he played the Indian rocket scientist Nambi Narayanan, which achieved universal acclaim and honours including the National Film Award for Best Feature Film. He has since appeared in the supernatural thriller Shaitaan (2024), spy thrillers Dhurandhar (2025) and Dhurandhar: The Revenge (2026), all of which were major commercial successes with the lattermost emerging his biggest hit till date.
In addition to his acting career, Madhavan has worked as a writer on his films, hosted television programs and has been a prominent celebrity endorser for brands and products. He has also worked as a film producer, first making Evano Oruvan with Leukos Films, before setting up Tricolour Films to produce Saala Khadoos (2016). Madhavan is noted for his philanthropic activities and promotes various causes such as environment, health, and education. He is particularly vocal about the protection of animals and was awarded PETA's Person of the Year recognition in 2011. In 2021, he was conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters by D. Y. Patil Education Society, Kolhapur, for his contribution to arts and cinema.
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