Madhoo on Roja turning 30: Proud, humbled and privileged to have been a part of it

Roja, the 1992 release marked the dawn of a new era in Indian cinema - it made, transformed careers, broke new grounds and has stood the test of time. The film, which hit screens on August 15, 1992, completes three decades of release today. Directed by Mani Ratnam, the film produced by K Balachander, starred Aravind Swami, Madhoo in the lead and marked the debut of AR Rahman as a composer.

The film catapulted the likes of Aravind Swami, Madhoo, AR Rahman into overnight stardom and gave a firm foundation to their budding careers then. For the uninitiated, Roja is the story revolving around the titular character and her valiant efforts to find her husband after he’s kidnapped by militants in Jammu and Kashmir. Nasser, Janagaraj and Pankaj Kapur played key roles in it.

Expressing her happiness on the important landmark, the film’s lead actress Madhoo shared a video on social media. “On this wonderful day, my film Roja is completing 30 years. I am very happy, proud, humbled and privileged to have been a part of it. Congratulations to the entire Roja team and thank you Mani Ratnam, K Balachander sir and audiences,” she said.

“AR Rahman deserves immense credit for the music and I am grateful to Aravind Swami for being a wonderful co-actor. On this day, without any reason, any excuse, let’s celebrate life,” Madhoo added. The actress was incidentally a find of filmmaker K Balanchander, who introduced her in the Mammootty-Bhanupriya starrer Azhagan. After Roja, Madhoo never had to look back as an actor again.

Santosh Sivan had cranked the camera for the film which was edited by Suresh Urs. Roja went onto win three National Awards, two Filmfare awards and five Tamil Nadu State awards besides several other international recognitions. The Roja lead pair reunited yet again for Thalaivii, the biopic of actor-politician Jayalalithaa. Roja is currently streaming on ZEE5, MX Player and Youtube.