His first full-length role in a Telugu film was through "Savyasachi" (2018), where he portrayed the antagonist in a cast headlined by Naga Chaitanya. Despite the film's average response at the box office, Madhavan won positive reviews for his performance, with a critic noting his "impressive performance" was the "saving grace of the film". Following an extended guest appearance in the Hindi film "Zero" (2018) alongside Shahrukh Khan and Anushka Sharma, Madhavan appeared in the bilingual thriller film "Nishabdham", which was shot entirely in Seattle. The film began as a silent film, before the makers chose to insert dialogue and create Tamil and Telugu versions.