Madhavan shares his 1st meeting with Modi on PM's birthday
On PM Modi's 75th birthday, actor R. Madhavan shared a cool story: while prepping for his film Rocketry: The Nambi Effect, Modi spotted him and said, "Madhavan ji, you look like Nambi Narayan. Has the shooting of the film started?"
Madhavan was genuinely surprised by how attentive Modi was.
Why was Madhavan surprised by Modi?
This happened right after Uri: The Surgical Strike became a hit, at a Mumbai event packed with film industry folks.
Madhavan had changed his look to play ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan in his directorial debut and didn't expect anyone—let alone the Prime Minister—to recognize him or know about his project.
The selfie and why it mattered to Madhavan
The meeting led to Madhavan's first-ever selfie with Modi—coincidentally, both of them had similar beards at the time.
Madhavan called it proof of how Modi "notices and values people personally."
He also mentioned that Modi has long respected Nambi Narayanan, who received the Padma Bhushan in 2019 after Rocketry began production.