- R Madhavan recommended Indian Air Force choose Rafale jets over other fighters in 2011 posts
- He praised Rafale's agility and tech, favoring it over F18, F16, Eurofighter, Gripen, and Mig 35
- India ordered Rafale jets in 2016; first batch arrived in 2020, years after Madhavan's suggestion
Following the back-to-back success of Dhurandhar and its sequel, Dhurandhar: The Revenge, actor R Madhavan has caught the internet's attention for his defence acumen. In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), from over a decade ago, Madhavan suggested that the Indian government should opt for French-made Rafale fighter jets instead of other American and European options.
In the Aditya Dhar-directed spy thrillers, Madhavan portrays Ajay Sanyal, a character inspired by India's National Security Advisor (NSA), Ajit Doval. Impressed by Madhavan's defence takes, social media users joked that the actor had been preparing to play Sanyal's character for years.
"My strongest recommendation to the Air Force would be to go for the Rafale. Between the F18, F16, Eurofighter Typhoon, Gripen and the Mig 35," wrote Madhavan in a post dated December 10, 2011.
"The most agile and effortless was the Rafale. Had a very duty-bound tech feel about it. The rockstar is certainly the Su30. We have enough Su30," he added.
In another post, Madhavan detailed the advantage of procuring Rafale while responding to a user's question. "Eurofighter is very impressive, no doubt. The Rafale is slightly less powered but super agile. The Su30 and Rafale combo is ops."
India officially ordered the Rafale fighter jets in 2016, with the first batch of jets arriving in the country in 2020, almost a decade after Madhavan made the suggestion.
Social Media Reactions
As the posts gained traction, social media users highlighted that Madhavan was talking about defence-related issues when it was not the trend on the platform.
"R Madhavan was preparing to play Ajay Sanyal from Dhurandhar since ages. Unreal," said one user while another added: "Madhavan was defence Twitter before defence Twitter even existed."
A third commented: "As a fighter pilot who had a bad experience with Mig 21 in Rang De Basanti, it was surely natural for Madhavan to choose a French aircraft over others, wasn't it !? Lol."
A fourth said: "Bro was running Indian defence Twitter when defence Twitter didn't exist. Come back Maddy..let's post more on defence, tech and fighter jets."
Before becoming an actor, Madhavan dreamt of joining the Indian Army. As a young National Cadet Corps (NCC) cadet, Madhavan had the opportunity to train with the British Army, the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force in England. Only eight cadets were picked for the special training, and Madhavan was one of them.
