‘With the Padma Shri, I Feel My Journey Has Just Begun’
Says R. Madhavan, after receiving one of India’s highest civilian honours, reflecting on a career
For R Madhavan, the Padma Shri arrives not as a capstone, but as confirmation.
The actor, who closed 2025 on a high with Dhurandhar, began the new year with one of India’s highest civilian honours. When reached soon after the announcement, Madhavan was buoyant—reflective, but unmistakably energised.
“It feels like being told I’ve been doing something right,” he says. “My life as an actor has always been unpredictable—and I like it that way. Stability is for real life.” He credits that stability to family. “By God’s grace, I have a wonderful wife and a son who makes me proud every day. Movies are where I seek adventure.” Looking back, he describes a career shaped less by strategy than by momentum. “It’s been a rollercoaster,” he says. “Television, satellite, Tamil cinema, Hindi films — God has been kind. I’ve never really had to face failure.”
The Padma Shri, he admits, feels like “the icing on the cake.” Celebrations, he says, have been shared and heartfelt. Yet the honour hasn’t prompted pause, only propulsion. “The Padma Shri gives me a born-again feeling,” Madhavan says. “I truly feel my journey has just begun.”
