"I was the best thing to have happened to Deal Ya No Deal"

RMadhavan was the hottest guy on television once upon a time(remember Banegi Apni Baat, Saaya, Jamai Raja?)and continues to reign over Mollywood. The actor broke away from his hectic schedule a couple of months ago to do a stint as the host of Sony's newly acquired format Deal Ya No Deal but quit the show after one and a half months. Kavita Shyam spoke to the hearthrob about life post Deal Ya No Deal, while he's on vacation in Dubai. Why did you quit Deal Ya No Deal? Well, I quit the show because they wanted me to give them more than six days in a month. I could hardly accommodate the dates with the show and my Tamil films in hand. The amount of dates I could give weren't sufficient enough for the show, so I quit. How was the experience of coming back to TV? It was a phenomenal experience. In fact, I miss shooting for it now! I loved interacting with the people, it was great fun. You started with television and came back to it in a different avatar. What has this done for your image, now that you are also a film star? Yes surely. In fact, I am in Dubai and the people here simply call me Deal Ya No Deal, so imagine how impactful the show must have been. It was a good show and people have loved it all over. I am glad I was a part of it. Do you think Mandira is the right choice for hosting the show and will she be able to live up to the popularity? Mandira is a good friend of mine and we have worked together earlier. She has worked successfully as a host in many shows before this, so she should be fine. But I think I was the best thing to have happened to Deal Ya No Deal. What made you take up Rang De Basanti considering you had a minuscule role in it? See, it is always good to be a part of good projects. Besides, I knew that the movie would be a hit. I was happy doing it and had a lovely unit to work with so I decided to be a part of the film. What's next for you in terms of work? Presently I am holidaying in Dubai. I am doing three Tamil films and there is one untitled Hindi film. I'd be soon shuttling between Chennai, Singapore and Mumbai so you can now imagine why I am not doing Deal Ya No Deal. But now no more of television for me!