Tamil superstar R. Madhavan first shed six kilograms to look compatible on screen with Shruti Haasan, and now he is required to undergo a physical meltdown to fit the bill in Raj Kumar Hirani's "Three Idiots".

Madhavan, who has temporarily shifted base to Mumbai to seriously pursue a career in Hindi movies, has taken off for two weeks to Ashford in Britain to work on his physique.

"My sister lives in Ashford and there're very good health clinics here. Whenever I need to change around my metabolism or rework my physique for a role, I head for Ashford. And at the moment I'm re-working my physique to look like a student," Madhavan told on phone.

Apparently, Hirani has asked all his three leading men - Aamir Khan, Sharman Joshi and Madhavan - to "look like IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) students."

The interpretation of that instruction has been left to the individual actors.

"Aamir will lose some of that aggressively muscular look that he has acquired for 'Ghajini'. He needs to look leaner and more athletic, as he did in 'Dil Chahta Hai'. Playing a student at 40-plus won't be difficult for Aamir.

He has done so in 'Rang De Basanti' with great success. Sharman doesn't need to lose any weight. He looks completely in character. Madhavan needs to look more toned," said a source close to the project.

A time frame has been set for each of the actors to get into shape to suit their characters.

"It's not about looking thinner or younger. All three of us need to look convincing as IIT students. How we choose to do so has been left to us," said 38-year-old Madhavan.

He returns in two weeks to resume the shooting of "Teen Patti", which was suspended when his co-star Amitabh Bachchan fell ill.

"It was scary how suddenly he was taken ill. We really don't care about the delay. All we want is for Amitji to be perfectly all right again," Madhavan said.