She is considered the last of the female superstars. From the times of ‘Tezaab’ (1988), ‘Dil’ (1990), ‘Beta’ (1992) and ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun’ (1994) to ‘Devdas’ (2002) and beyond, Madhuri Dixit Nene was never considered either irrelevant or passé. Her shift to the USA after marriage put a small break to an illustrious career.
But when she returned to India with family for good, she was welcomed well. Madhuri tried out new avenues as well, like producing Marathi films, and doing the web series ‘Fame Game’, early this year.
Madhuri is awaiting the release of ‘Maja Ma’, her first Amazon Prime Video original. She plays the pivotal role of a Gujarati homemaker, Mrs Patel. Her dance numbers became iconic from ‘Ek do teen’ from ‘Tezaab’. While her ‘Dola re dola’ in ‘Devdas’ is another cult classic, Madhuri is now being hailed for her situational garba (her first ever) in the song ‘Boom padi’. “It’s a great song with good lyrics,” she says.
Ask her about how she looks at her current phase (she had a whopper pre-pandemic hit in ‘Total Dhamaal’— also playing another Mrs Patel — and the acclaimed Marathi film ‘Bucket List’), and she says, “I feel fortunate that nice offers are coming to me. I essayed a challenging role in ‘Fame Game’ as I played a superstar who is also a wife and mother. She also carries professional baggage. In ‘Maja Ma’, I play a perfect mother and doting wife, an everyday, relatable homemaker who is looked up to in the neighborhood. Again, the story is from her point of view.”
The actor has always enacted roles that exhibit a woman’s strength. But, she stresses, “The difference today, vis-à-vis the 1980s when I started out and the 1990s when I did most of my work, is that things are much better organised now. We would be doing 4 to 5 films simultaneously, shooting for two or even three films on a single day. I remember this one film for which I shot for 7 years.”
She adds, “The organised system enables me to work on a film or series for months, take a break and then go to my next project. We actors can plan our life. The films are coherent, and how we look, dress and our lines are all fixed. All we actors have to do is go on sets and do it right.”
Madhuri believes exposure to the best of cinema from all over the world on the OTT space has changed the expectations of Indian audiences. The online boom has removed needless commercial pressures, she points out. “Today, our audience can expect a senior actor (Neena Gupta) to be at the centre-stage in a refreshing film like ‘Badhaai Ho’ (2018). They are ready for mature subjects. You can tell a story the way you want,” she adds.
So how has she remained relevant almost 40 years after her debut in ‘Abodh’ (1984? “I love what I do. I want to do something better, and new, for which I am searching the right story all the time. Even now, I get as excited and look forward to the day’s work as I did when I was working for my first film. You have to be consistent to remain relevant,” she offers.
The phenomenon of 50-plus heroes romancing young women is strange but the reverse never happens. “Don’t we women mature more than men?”, she asks, laughing. “Look, I cannot blame our heroes. Our commercial films need them, and our heroes are keen on being young and fit. But I feel the likes of Raveena Tandon, Juhi Chawla and myself have moved ahead. We are being true to ourselves on screen,” she explains.
But would she be open to work with young male superstars, like Ranbir Kapoor (with whom she did the dance ‘Ghagra’ in ‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’), Ranveer Singh or Sidharth Malhotra? “Why not?” she smiles, and ticks off the requisites for that to happen.
“The film should be good, the writing excellent and the stars willing,” she signs off.