In 2012, Madhavan took a sabbatical and was based in Chicago resting his knee, which he injured during the making of "Vettai", causing him to suffer from chondromalacia patellae. During the period, he felt he had to "reinvent himself" and had to work on films which would appeal to the "new generation of audiences", so took a decision to work on a single film at a time. During a period of three years without any theatrical releases, his long-delayed Hindi film "Taak Jhaank" directed by Rituparno Ghosh in 2006, premièred at the 19th Kolkata International Film Festival in 2013, while his first Hindi film "Akeli", shot in 1997, was released online during the following year. During his recovery period and sabbatical in 2013, Madhavan signed on to appear in Simon West's "", in which he appeared as a former marine personnel and shot for the project in California. The computer animated film, where Madhavan provided voice work, premièred in San Diego during July 2015.