R Madhavan recently opened up about his early hesitation in portraying a college student at the age of 40 in the acclaimed 2009 film 3 Idiots. In an interview, he admitted feeling uncertain about the role, despite it later becoming one of his most iconic performances.
Directed by Rajkumar Hirani, the film featured Madhavan alongside Aamir Khan and Sharman Joshi as engineering students. At the time of filming, all three actors were significantly older than their on-screen roles—Aamir was 44, Madhavan 40, and Sharman 30. The age gap was a concern they openly discussed before taking on the characters.
"I was sh**ting bricks when I was doing 3 Idiots as I was 40 years old at that time. Oh my God! It's a miracle that we passed off as college students," Madhavan said in a conversation with News18, reports Times of India.
His character was shown during his college years and later in his late 30s in the film.
Madhavan recalled that real students on campus looked even more mature. He said, "But the funny part was, when we went to the college and got into our attires, we were looking younger than the actual students there. That's what gave us the confidence.
Thankfully Amir (khan), Sharman (Joshi) and I weren't bald. Guys studying in that college were bald or had grey hair. We had to ask them if they were students or professors. When they said they were students, we were like, 'Achchi baat hai, bhai! Now we feel much younger'."
'3 Idiots' went on to become one of the most beloved films in Indian cinema. The film also featured Kareena Kapoor, Mona Singh, and Boman Irani in pivotal roles.
Bd-pratidin English/ Afia
