As told to Ankita Chaurasia (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 4, 2020)

The first time I faced a camera was for the auditions of Abodh. I was 16 at the time and had very short hair. But since I was trying to land the role of a village belle, I needed long locks. So, they put a heavy wig on my head, which was then plaited and set in place. Once my make-up was done, I looked the part of a gaon ki chhori.

Then, I was taken to the Rajshri Studios in Prabhadevi where, to my surprise, I was pushed in front of the camera and asked to dance with expressions. The makers wanted to see how I looked on screen and just how comfortable I was with the camera. I had thought I would be shown some steps to follow and maybe have to mouth a few dialogues, but here, I was being asked to come up with my own steps as the music played; it was strange.

Fortunately, I was used to the spontaneity from all the stage performances I had done in school and quickly got into rhythm.

I bagged the film and soon had to report for work. My co-star, Tapas Paul, was also a newbie in Bollywood and together, we excitedly explored the surroundings. I had never been on a film set before, so, I didn’t know that everything was cardboard, plywood and paper. While talking to someone, I leaned against one of the walls of my ‘house’ and to my horror my hand went through the paper-thin foundation. As I stood there, shell-shocked and embarrassed, I was informed that the walls were made of canvas. I literally broke the set on my first day and got my first lesson in filmmaking. Thankfully, everyone around was very indulgent and laughed off my naivete.

My first shot was for the song “Ghani Ghani Amraiyon”, where, as the innocent and child-like Gauri, I had to run through the fields, merrily frolicking with my friends. It sounds easy today, but for someone just entering the world of make-believe, it was not a cakewalk. I learnt about camera angles, the marks to follow, everything from scratch during the shoot. I even discovered that there’s a right way to raise your hands to a particular length when in the frame. It was all quite overwhelming but fun. Of course, I was nervous, but since the team was so supportive, I sailed through my first day without any more mishaps.

Charting the rise and rise of the actress who ruled hearts for close to three decades, dazzling with her beauty on screen and off it
Subhash K Jha (DNA; May 15, 2017)

It’s hard to imagine Dixit as being 50. But then you see how beautifully she has aged, and how fabulously she has managed her life, and you know 50 is just a number that the ageless beauty has encountered in her beautiful journey of life.

Madhuri’s beginnings as an actress could never have indicated how far she would go. Her rise was not meteoric, but slow and steady. She started her career modestly in a Rajshri film Abodh in 1984.

Then came Tezaab (1988) and the hit song Ek Do Teen, that turned Madhuri into a superstar. Director N Chandra recalls, “When we were shooting the song, we knew something extraordinary was happening. Madhuri was electric on camera. Saroj Khan, who is a hard taskmaster couldn’t stop praising her. We knew Madhuri was going to be a superstar beyond any.”

Showman Subhash Ghai and the subsequent Ram Lakhan (1989) turned the tides of Madhuri’s career. The number Bada Dukh Dee Na was the first time that Lata Mangeshkar sang for Madhuri. “I felt I was finally a full-fledged heroine only after Latabai sang for me,” Madhuri had told this reporter once. The nightingale would go on to sing 16 songs for Madhuri in her most iconic film Hum Aaapke Hain Koun..!

Her journey after Tezaab and Ram Lakhan (1989) was rapid, swift and sure-footed. People like Subhash Ghai (Ram Lakhan, Khalnaayak) Boney and Anil Kapoor (Pukar), Rahul Rawail (Anjaam), Indra Kumar (Beta, Dil), Rakesh Roshan (Khel, Koyla) cast Madhuri in roles that gave her immense commercial clout and a reputation for delivering measured, graceful deep performances.

Sooraj Barjatya’s Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! is to Madhuri’s career what Mother India was to Nargis or Mughal-e-Azam is to Madhubala. It iconised the dancer-actress beyond all definitions of celluloid fame. Among those who were lifelong fans of Madhuri and the historic film was artiste and painter M F Husain who saw the film 67 times and directed a whole film Gaja Gamini dedicated to her beauty.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali confesses he’s an ardent Dixit fan. “Madhuri is magic on screen. I couldn’t think of casting anyone else as Chandramukhi in my Devdas. She was my first and only choice. Devdas couldn’t have been made without her. I wanted her for my first film Khamoshi: The Musical. But things didn’t work out at that time. As a filmmaker, it was very important for me to work with Madhuri. She is a complete actress. A skilled dancer and superlative actress,” says Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

In 1999, Madhuri married the US-based doctor Sriram Nene and migrated to Denver. Their marriage was a success because as she jokingly once mentioned, he had not seen any of her films and was not besotted by her. Madhuri decided to return to India in 2011.

At 50, her beauty and grace craves for a Bridges Of Madison County. Instead, she gets a Gulab Gang. Here’s hoping that some enterprising filmmaker would write a role that does justice to her beauty.