'Sen girls driving me insane'

When Rituparno Ghosh first saw Madhavan in Kolkata he exclaimed, "But you look too young for the role!"

Grins Maddy, "That's because Ritu hadn't seen me after my weight loss."

Ever since Madhavan returned from Kent (UK) 6 ½ kgs lighter he's been feeling on top of the world.

"Everything seems so different. I knew all along that I was overweight, thanks to my Tamilian background that made me gorge on rice and curd every day.

All that has changed now. Not only do I recommend a light meal for myself but also for my other Tamilian colleagues in Chennai who seem to subscribe to the more-the-merrier way of life a little too obediently," Madhavan has finished shooting in Kolkata for Rituparno Ghosh's Sunglass.

"Would you believe I said yes without hearing the full script yet?" Maddy mock-whispered. "But the fact that Ritu felt it was the right role for me, gave me the courage to just plunge into the film after hearing Ritu give me brief narration. Ritu is a fabulous storyteller.

Though I met him for the first time for Sunglass I feel I've known him well for some time, thanks to his persuasive way of reaching out. I think between Mani Rathnam and Rituparno I'll cover the entire spectrum of filmmakers."

Konkona Sen-Sharma is Maddy's co-star in Sunglass. Maddy grins from ear to ear. "I think she and I make a great pair. She's dusky and so am I. Thank God I lost weight. She's reed- thin, yaar! We'd have looked like Laurel and Hardy on screen."

Maddy's other female co-star in Sunglass is Raima Sen. "Reema, Riya, Raima….all these Sens are driving me insane. As it is, I'm terrible with names. And to compound my confusion I'm also doing a Tamil film with Reema.

I hope I don't end up confusing Raima's name.By the way, she was supposed to be my co-star in Run. Good we're working together finally."

He narrates an incident that happened when he was shooting for his latest Tamil hit Thambi. "I had put on a lot of weight to play the do-gooder-goon. A female fan came straight up to me and whispered, ' I like you more this way. There's more of you fantasize about.'

I distinctly remember I had flinched because it was a a not-so-rude reminder of my weight and also because such lewd female attention always makes me feel inadequate."

This was Maddy's first visit for a shoot in Kolkata. " I love the Bengali cuisine. No fish curry for me because I'm a strict vegetarian. But I love mishti dohi, sandesh and rashogolla. Gosh, I hope I don't regain the weight I lost after such hard work!"