4 min readHyderabadAug 5, 2026 07:08 PM IST
At 56, R Madhavan says he has not even given half of himself yet. The actor, who plays GD Naidu in the upcoming biopic GDN, has called the inventor label “a really small label” for a man who fought the British, pushed for women’s education and turned Coimbatore into an industrial hub.
In a conversation with Sudhir Srinivasan, Madhavan was blunt about the gap between GD Naidu’s public image and the full story the film tells. “What you’ve read, what you’ve heard, even what you know, it’s only like 10% of the whole story,” he said. “His invention only makes up about 5 to 10% of our story. Besides that, he did social reforms, educational reforms, women’s education, fighting the British to prove a point about how they were victimizing people. He won those fights.”
Explaining about the film, Madhavan retaliated that the inventor label is misleading in its narrowness. “If you say today that Coimbatore is one of the biggest industrial hubs in the world, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration. But then, how did they stop that progress? That’s what this story is about, whether he lost or won, that’s the whole point,” he said. “It’s just a label called inventor. Seriously, it’s a really small label. When you watch that movie, you’ll get what I’m trying to say.”
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Madhavan described GD Naidu’s real life as something no screenwriter could invent. “He had a knack for imitation and a great sense of humor. All the big geniuses around the world came and met him, even stayed at his place. He went to Nazi Germany, fought with the British, never backed down till the very end,” he said.
He spoke at length about how he prepares for biopic roles and the mental process of becoming someone else. Describing the daily makeup routine as a form of transformation that goes beyond the physical, he said, “While the makeup is going on, I can see Maddy going and GD Naidu coming, Maddy going, Nambinarayanan coming. Once the process changes, it’s like being possessed by somebody who’s not me,”
But he was clear about the line between imitation and acting. “Just acting like someone else, that’s mimicry, not acting. To truly bring a character to life, there has to be a bit of Madhavan in it,” he said. “You can’t just pretend to act like someone. How I get angry or desire something in real life, I need all that in the character. But at the same time, the visual shouldn’t look like something I’ve already done in many movies.”
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On showing flaws in biopic subjects, Madhavan said honesty is the only approach that works. “You’ve got to say the negative stuff when dealing with these humans. If I say everything you’ve done is good, they won’t believe it,” he said. He recalled taking the same approach with Nambinarayanan during Rocketry. “I told the truth straight up. Sir, I’m about to pay you a tribute. If I say everything you’ve done is good, they won’t believe it. And he actually liked that,” he said.
He explained why he keeps gravitating towards biopics of unsung heroes. “I want to tell people about unsung heroes. After hearing their stories, a lot of people facing similar situations should come forward and fight. If people get this feeling, that itself is a big success for the film,” he said.
GDN, directed by Krishnakumar Ramakumar and co-written with Madhavan, chronicles the life of GD Naidu, often called the Edison of India. The film also stars Sathyaraj, Jayaram, Priyamani, Dushara Vijayan, Aditi Balan, Vinay Rai, Karunakaran and Thambi Ramaiah. Music is composed by Govind Vasantha, with cinematography by Aravind Kamalanathan. Produced by Varghese Moolan Pictures in association with Madhavan’s Tricolour Films, GDN releases in theatres on August 7.
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