R Madhavan is still popularly known for his character of Madhav Shastri aka Maddy from Rehnaa Hai Tere Dil Mein. Though the film was a commercial flop, it gained cult status over the years.

However, as the audience evolved they found Maddy a problematic character. Several moviegoers pointed out that Maddy's stalking Reena (Dia Mirza) was wrong, and had a negative influence on the youth.

Recently, the actor has stepped forward and addressed the criticism over his RHTDM character and the stalking scene. While defending his character, Madhavan told Mashable India that judging his character with a 'Western yardstick' is unfair. "Main inn sab baaton se bilkul sehmati nahi rakhta. Ye green flag, blue flag ye sab cheezein nikkamme logon ka nikkamma kaam hai. Mera maanna hai ki ek gentleman hona zaroori hai. Bachpan se hume sikhaya gaya hai ki ladies se kaise baat ki jaaye, kaise unhe approach kiya jaaye, aur ye hamesha hamari sanskriti ka ek hissa raha hai. Badmaash toh hote hi hain. Par aap hume Western yardstick se judge nahi kar sakte (I completely disagree with all this. These concepts like green flag, blue flag—these are just meaningless things said by idle people. Since childhood, we were taught how to talk to women, and how to approach them, and this has always been a part of our culture. Of course, there are troublemakers everywhere, but you can't judge us using a Western yardstick)."

Madhavan then justified stalking and said that in those days a boy, who truly loved a girl, how would be able to contact her, other than stalking her. The actor said that back in the day if they wanted to meet a girl in Mumbai, they did it with love and respect. If they were in an unfamiliar city and wanted to meet a girl, how would they do it? He further added, "Aap usko track kiye bagair, uske peeche jaakar voh kahan rehti hai, voh jaane bagair, use contact kar hi nahi sakte. Kaise karta koi insan? (Without tracking her, without following her home, you couldn't contact her. How could anyone do it?)" For the unversed, RHTDM was the official Hindi remake of director Gautam Menon's own Tamil film Minnale. The film also marked R Madhavan and Dia Mirza's Hindi film debut.