R Madhavan Got Drunk For 3 Idiots Scene At Aamir Khan's Insistence, Reveals Failing 8th Grade: 'My Dad...'

Actor and filmmaker R Madhavan remembered a funny incident while filming a scene for the movie 3 Idiots. He revealed that he was actually drunk on set for a particular scene, on the advice of Aamir Khan, the movie’s star. Madhavan mentioned in an interview that Aamir suggested it’s easier to act sober when drunk than the other way around. Madhavan confirmed during a podcast that all three main actors were drunk while filming the scene.

He explained that Aamir’s idea for drunk scenes was not to act drunk but to drink and act normal. They planned to start drinking by 8 for a 9 o’clock shoot, aiming to have a few drinks by 8:30-8:45. He said, “So, Aamir’s idea was that in drunk scenes, you should never act like you’re drunk. You should drink and act like you’re normal. Basically, we wanted to shoot at 9, so Aamir made a plan. By 8 we’d start drinking; by 8:30-8:45 we’d have had our three-four pegs. But what happened is that the lighting conked off, so at 8:30 they said another two hours left. So, we wanted to maintain the same level of alcohol in our blood, except we didn’t realise that the cold Bangalore air would have a complete different impact on our intoxication. By the time the shot came, we thought we were completely normal, except we didn’t realise we were taking hours to deliver the lines.”

Madhavan also shared a personal anecdote reminiscent of a scene from 3 Idiots, recounting a heart-to-heart talk with his disappointed father. He revealed that he failed in the 8th grade due to scoring only 39 per cent in mathematics. He admitted, “I was not a very good student, much to the disgust and dismay of my parents. Their dream was that I should get married and join Tata Steel, and live in the same house as my father. I remember my parents being heartbroken. My dad isn’t prone to being dramatic, but we were walking down the railway track after the last engineering college had rejected by application. He had tears in his eyes, and he asked, ‘What have I done wrong with you?’ I said, ‘Appa, I don’t know what I will become, but I know what I don’t want to do, and I don’t want to do your job. If I sit on the table for 30 years, I’ll end up killing somebody. I’m not right for that. All I can tell you is that I won’t let you down.”