From Nambi Narayanan to GD Naidu: Why Madhavan is drawn to unsung Indian heroes

Ahead of the release of G.D.N., R Madhavan talks about playing inventor GD Naidu and why he is drawn to unsung Indian heroes like Nambi Narayanan. He also revisits Run and gets candid about Chennai that he still calls home

Updated - August 06, 2026 05:06 pm IST

Madhavan; a still from ‘G.D.N’ | Photo Credit: Thamodharan B

Unsung heroes make for great cinema. And Madhavan knows that a little too well.

A few years ago, he came up with Rocketry: The Nambi Effect, which told the story of one such hero — Nambi Narayanan, former scientist and aerospace engineer at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). In fact, circumstances forced the actor to turn filmmaker to ensure that his passion projectmade it to the big screen.

His latest obsession is another such unsung hero: inventor and industrial pioneer, GD Naidu.

“I love watching and hearing about the extraordinary achievements of ordinary men,” the 56-year-old actor says, as he looks out of his room in a luxury hotel in Chennai, with a bird’s eye view of bustling city roads below.

Madhavan’s upcoming film is ‘G.D.N’, a biopic on inventor GD Naidu | Photo Credit: Thamodharan B

Maddy – as he is called, by both friends and fans – is fascinated by the life and times of Gopalsamy Doraisamy Naidu. “There are great achievers in every field, but the people I find most fascinating are the ones who do what they do without any expectation of recognition during their lifetime. Nambi Narayan did that. GD Naidu was also one such extraordinary individual.”

Directed by Krishnakumar Ramkumar and produced by Varghese Moolan Pictures, G.D.N – set to release on August 7 – will unveil the genius of GD Naidu, widely regarded as the ‘Edison of India’. In fact, former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister CN Annadurai remarked, “Our society did not make use of GD Naidu’s intellect. His inventions are a very valuable resource to society.”

Annadurai must have been referring to his inventions such as the vote recording machine, radio clock and the electric razor, among others, but all these will only form a part of Madhavan’s current biopic on the man. “All that has been written and known about him was a fraction of what he was. What he has done for Coimbatore, India and society is unsung, all hidden behind the fact that the media and the British portrayed him in a certain manner and therefore relegated him to a corner of the history book. In fact, the fight in this film is to make his story a part of the syllabus, at least in Tamil Nadu,” he states, adding, “What Uber or Bill Gates has done today is what GD Naidu thought of many decades ago.”

Madhavan in ‘G.D.N’, a biopic of GD Naidu

Inside the transformation

Sporting a bald, powerful look with thick glasses in one of the posters of the film, Madhavan’s transformation for G.D.N might take some by surprise or even shock. The portions where he had to play the older version of Naidu involved over three hours of make-up. “He wore very thick-set glasses. To wear that and do those sequences was tough because I could barely see. If you have to walk with it, it becomes more difficult. So, I had to map it in my mind and walk, without bumping into furniture. To keep all that in mind and know that I have to come across as somebody real was a test.”

If the physical transformation presented challenges, getting into Naidu’s mindspace was relatively easy for the actor who has always shown an inclination towards the sciences. “I love engineering. In fact, my friend, Aravind Kamalanathan – who is close to GDN’s family and brought this subject to me – is an engineering freak too. We tried our hand at aeromodelling way back in the early 2000s....”

The other unique process that the makers of G.D.N adopted was preparing an almost two-hour audiobook, filled with the dialogues of all characters and the background music. “The director (Krishnakumar Ramakumar) did that,” admits Madhavan, “He made a podcast for the entire film that showed his commitment and research to the story. Everything was so vivid that I knew exactly what the film would finally look like.”

The actor does not believe that every biopic needs to be pitched in terms of realism. “My Nambi: The Rocketry Effect was ultra realistic. But G.D.N will have an entertaining Raju Hirani-kind of storytelling, because the man’s life renders itself to a lot of commercial sequences that we have enhanced.”

Madhavan is juggling multiple projects and taking his craft seriously today. But way back in the early 2000s, he was described as the chocolate boy when he burst into Tamil films with Mani Ratnam’s Alaipayuthe, a debut that he looks back today with a lot of gratitude. If films like Alaipayuthe and Minnale gave him a big launchpad, action film Run (2002) – which recently re-released in theatres – showed him in a different light. “It was a turning point in my career,” he points out, “After having played lover-boy roles, no one expected me to wallop the bad guys.”