Madhavan prepares for Ramanujan biopic

Dec 29, 2011 PGV

It is not actors Suriya or Siddarth, but suave Madhavan is the choice of director Matt Brown and producer Edward Pressman to play Srinivasa Ramanujan, the mathematical genius.

Neither Dev Benegal nor Rohit Jugraj could bring Ramanujan on screen so far despite their years of best efforts. Even native New Yorker and filmmaker Edward Pressman is also one of those whose dream has been to make this biopic.

After more than five years of relentless pursuit of his dream, Pressman has finally joined hands with Matt Brown to implement the project.

The Madhavan-starrer is titled 'The Man Who Knew Infinity' based on the book of the same name by Robert Kanigel. Picdor published the book.

Rohit Jugraj too wanted to base his film on Ramanujan on the same book, but he could not get the rights from the publisher Picdor. Suriya's name was mentioned for Jugraj's project. Another filmmaker reportedly had Siddarth in mind for the title role in his film.

Matt Brown- Pressman project with Madhavan as the lead character will be the first to come out. Pressman has been known for discovering new talent and bringing new experiences to motion picture audiences.

Colin Firth of 'The King's Speech' fame may play the pivotal role of English mathematician G.H. Hardy, who worked closely with Ramanujan. Kanigel's book explores the relationship between the two greats in detail.

Madhavan has already started his preparations with a visit to Ramanujan's native place Kumbakonam. The role requires Madhavan to put on weight as he has found from his research that the genius was overweight. He had been taken ill due to stress and strain and died at the age of 32.

Madhavan has confirmed that ' Yes, I will be playing Srinivasa Ramanujan in a film.'

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