Bhubaneswar: Odisha is no longer India's best kept secret, it's known to all, said actor R Madhavan, who was all praises for the state's sports infrastructure during his first visit to the state on Wednesday.
On meeting Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at his residence, the Rocketry actor heaped praises on the highly-equipped Bhubaneswar Kalinga Stadium. He was accompanied by wife Sarita Birje and son Vedaant Madhavan, who has recently bagged gold medal and rewritten the National Junior Record for 1500m freestyle swimming.
Welcoming the Madhavan family, the CM congratulated Vedaant on his recent achievement and wished him luck for an Olympic medal someday. This was followed by a brief conversation between the Madhavan family and CM Patnaik.
“What an excellent job you’ve done with the stadium. I loved it…the vision..I’m just looking forward to it getting completed now,” R Madhavan said to CM Patnaik.
As the conversation continued, CM Patnaik also appreciated Madhavan’s latest movie ‘Rocketry: The Nambi Effect’ based on the life of ISRO’s rocket scientist S. Nambi Narayanan. Later Madhavan offered to arrange a show for Naveen.
“Strangely, it’s my first trip to Bhubaneswar. From the plane itself it looked like an enchanted place…,” the actor further said.
Later, Patnaik presented blue coloured jerseys that read ‘Odisha-India’s Best kept secret’ to all three members of the Madhavan family.
ନବୀନଙ୍କୁ ସାକ୍ଷାତ କଲେ ଅଭିନେତା ଆର୍.ମାଧବନଙ୍କ ପୁରା ପରିବାର । ପୁଅ ବେଦାନ୍ତ ମାଧବନଙ୍କୁ ଶୁଭେଚ୍ଛା ଜଣାଇଲେ ମୁଖ୍ୟମନ୍ତ୍ରୀ @CMO_Odisha @Naveen_Odisha @ActorMadhavan pic.twitter.com/gUIOgPfnpS
— Kanak News (@kanak_news) July 21, 2022
R Madhavan shared photographs from the meeting on his social media handle and thanked the Odisha CM.
"Such a pleasure to meet with honorable CM & very dynamic Shri@Naveen_Odisha Ji. Thank you so much for the kind hospitality & the most fantastic endeavor of putting Odisha firmly on one of the Best Sports Venue map of India-Your commitment for the future of sports is invigorating," he tweeted.
Such a pleasure to meet with honorable CM & very dynamic Shri @Naveen_Odisha Ji.Thank you so much for the kind hospitality & the most fantastic endeavor of putting Odisha firmly on one of the Best Sports Venue map of India-Your commitment for the future of sports is invigorating pic.twitter.com/l5tePqMOss
— Ranganathan Madhavan (@ActorMadhavan) July 21, 2022
Watch:
"#Odisha is no longer India's best kept secret, it's known to all", said @ActorMadhavan during his visit to Kalinga Stadium at the #AquaticNationals2022.
Hear him out! pic.twitter.com/mfafkNLmIL
— Odisha Sports (@sports_odisha) July 20, 2022