/> '3 Idiots' has taken an extremely positive start all over and is all set to be the biggest grosser of the year. While usual suspects like Rajkumar Hirani and Aamir Khan have walked away with top honors, others like Madhavan and Sharman Joshi haven't been pushovers at all.

In a film that required each of the three 'idiots' to enjoy equal footage right through the narrative, Madhavan has proved that there was actually a role of substance for him. No wonder, he is ecstatic about the response to the film and his act and is happy about 2009 which had '13B' beginning it all and '3 Idiots' taking it to conclusion.

With the kind of response that '3 Idiots' has fetched, is it now the most special Hindi film ever for you?
Right from the moment I signed the film, it was the most special Bollywood outing for me. I always wanted to work with Raj Kumar Hirani.

It wasn't because he had given two super hits in a row but because I had heard legendary tales about him as a director. I have seldom seen someone who is so unanimously popular. He is a great human being and honestly, I am a sucker for nice people.

It is also being said that Hirani-Madhavan collaboration was pretty much due and that too from your TV days. Is that a fact?
Yes, that was actually the case. In fact when '3 Idiots' was in an inception phase, I had gone to him and asked if he could please consider me for the project.

I was in for a pleasant surprise when he said that he was looking forward to working with me since my TV days. Did you know that originally Munnabhai was planned to be made in a TV series format and I was supposed to work with Raju?

This was around 10-12 years back. It couldn't materialise then but call it a strange twist in the tale; I am now working with him in '3 Idiots'.

With you being the only actor from down South who has been around in Bollywood for so many years, have you gone on to prove that if an actor is good enough, there isn't any bias when it comes to the language?
Honestly speaking, my intent has never been to prove that a South Indian actor can make it in Bollywood. Really, those thoughts have never crossed my mind because to do that was never my objective.

It's not that the Hindi speaking audience finds me as an alien. I have been earlier accepted on TV and now I am glad that this has continued with my films too.

I have been consistently getting A grade movies which is a great feeling. But no, it isn't like I have achieved something that I was trying to veer towards. That was never the case.