R Madhavan is a highly popular Indian actor, writer, director, and producer who has played the lead role in several Hindi and Tamil films. Madhavan commands a pan-India appeal with his success in Bollywood and southern India film industries alike. Some of the best known Hindi films in which Madhavan has acted are ‘3 Idiots’, ‘Rang De Basanti’, ‘Guru’, ‘Tanu Weds Manu’. Madhavan has turned a new leaf by directing ‘Rocketry: The Nambi Effect’ in which he also played the lead role. 

Madhavan is noted for his philanthropic activities and promotes various causes such as environment, health, and education. He is particularly vocal about the protection of animals and was awarded PETA’s Person of the Year recognition in 2011. In 2021, he was conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters by D. Y. Patil Education Society, Kohlapur for his contribution to arts and cinema. 

Very early in his career, Madhavan taught public speaking and personality development skills. In that period he also won the Indian Championship for Public Speaking and subsequently represented India at the Young Businessmen Conference in Tokyo, Japan in 1992. In 2017, Madhavan addressed the 14th edition of the Indian Conference by Harvard Business School, which is one of the largest student-run conferences with a focus on India in the US.