EXCLUSIVE: Madhoo on Bollywood’s biasedness towards South Indians: “When people say ‘Madrasan,’ it’s a very derogatory”

Actor Madhoo, who predominantly worked in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada language films, elaborates on how South Indian cinema is different from Bollywood. During a candid chat with Bollywood Bubble, Madhoo opens up on how Bollywood represented South Indians in their movies and how they called them Madrasans. She feels it’s derogatory and people are ignorant about people. Due to the biasedness towards them, she even had to drop her surname Raghunathan’ because people would think about her differently.

Madhoo on dropping her surname and people’s perception towards South Indians

She said, “I felt that the moment you hear a name, you label someone, and I didn’t want that. But I have evolved so much today; there is a significant difference in my thinking now compared to the ’90s. Today, I wouldn’t change anything about myself or erase anything because I like my name Madhoo. I’m neither Raghunathan nor I’m Shah. Today, as an artist, I go by Madhoo only because I like to have self-identity. But I wouldn’t change anything about myself to fit somewhere now. But there was a time when I wanted to feel like I belonged in the Hindi Industry and I felt that there was a strong bias against South Indians in people’s minds.“

“Earlier, South Indians were only represented in mimicry and comedy, they would mockingly say, ‘Aiyo,’ because those words are part of our language. So, I felt that the impression and bias against South Indians, I wanted to distance myself from that. That’s why, anyone who loudly said, ‘She’s South Indian,’ like my surname, I thought, ‘I am not a South Indian, I am an artist in Bollywood, in the Hindi film industry. Don’t see me as a South Indian actress,‘” the Roja actor said.

Madhoo feels bad when people use Madrasan term

The Kartam Bhuktam actor continued, “Firstly when people say ‘Madrasan,’ it’s a very derogatory term because maybe some actor in some scene used the word ‘Madrasi’ or ‘Madrasan’. People from Chennai are not Madrasans; they are Tamilians. This is a matter of ignorance, not bad behaviour. When a North Indian calls a South Indian ‘Madrasi,’ it is their ignorance; they don’t know anything else, and that’s because of some representation. I didn’t want all these things attached to me as an artist – that because she is South Indian, she speaks like this, or she is a Madrasan. I didn’t want all this, I wanted to be known simply as Madhoo, the actor. That’s why I didn’t use my surname, Raghunathan, at that time. But today, I think, “What the hell?” If someone can be a Kapoor or a Khanna, why not? I should be proud of that.“

Watch the full interview

Also read: EXCLUSIVE: Madhoo admits she doesn’t regret REJECTING Baazigar; reveals her films with Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan never materialised