by Subhash K Jha

Madhavan is appalled at reports that he has said no to Mani Rathnam. "Am I mad to say no to Mani Sir? He made my career in Hindi films. I'd happily accept any role he offered me.'

With two Hindi films Dil Se and Yuva behind him Tamilian maverick Mani Rathnam is in an acute casting crisis for his third Hindi film.

He has cast Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Vidya Balan in the film. But the second hero seems to be eluding Mani big-time.

Casting has always been a major problem in Mani's Hindi cinema. For Dil Se the director badly wanted Kajol and then Rani Mukherjee. He finally had to settle for Manisha Koirala.

Yuva went through several casting shuffles. Bobby Deol declined the lead on monetary issues. Ajay Devgan finally accepted the part.

It's unclear how Mani intends to deal with the current casting crisis. After John Abraham said no (and apparently didn't even meet the director), reports in Chennai now suggest that Mani's favourite actor Madhavan was all set to rescue his mentor from this casting crisis.

But Madhavan shoots down the suggestion. "First of all Mani Sir hasn't approached me for this film. So where's the question of my asking him for a narration. Secondly I've done career-making roles with him in Alai Payuthe, Kannattil Muttamittal and the Tamil version of Yuva where I played Abhishek's role.

My role in Mani Sir's Hindi film has to be ground-breaking," says the actor currently basking in the success of Rakeysh Mehra's Rang De Basanti.

"That has been a life-changing experience. I knew I had no more than ten minutes on screen. I had no space to act. Just react. That's exactly what I did. And now when Rang De Basanti is such a craze I feel good about it."

The actor's latest Tamil release Thambi is a hit. "I'm called Thambi instead of Maddy on the streets. It's a new high. I guess my son Vedant has brough me luck."