Madhuri - The 'dhak dhak' girl

By: Debasmita Chanda

Madhuri Dixit, whose real name was Madhuri Shankar Dixit was born on 15th May 1967 in Mumbai to Shankar and Snehlata Dixit who belonged to an aristocratic Brahmin Maharashtrian family. She has two elder sisters - Rupa and Bharati and an elder brother named Ajit.

As a child, Madhuri wanted to become a microbiologist. However that just wasn't destined to be. An offer from Rajshri Productions brought Madhuri her first role in a film titled Abodh (1986). However the movie was released and forgotten. It wasn't until godfather Subhash Ghai saw Madhuri and gave her a tiny dance sequence in Karma (1986) that things improved. The dance sequence was omitted from the final cut. Ghai promised Madhuri better roles, on the condition that she stop doing tiny roles in insignificant films.

Thus, Ghai gave Madhuri Uttar Dakshin, and then a proper launch in Ram Lakhan (1988). Ghai also took the step of putting an eight-page advertisement in the trade magazines featuring Madhuri, proclaiming that producers of the calibre of Boney Kapoor, Yash Chopra and six others had signed Madhuri for their forthcoming projects. Madhuri however, didn't have to wait for Ghai's Ram Lakhan. N.Chandra's Tezaab and the item number ek, do, teen char took the nation by storm. Miss Dixit had arrived, and the whole world knew it!. Tezaab went on to complete a golden jubilee, and was thus a bigger hit than Ram Lakhan. Madhuri soon came to be known as the ek do teen girl and was greatly appreciated in the film. She was well recognized and finally got a breakthrough in the field of film bazaar.

A superb performance followed in Dil (1990) - which brought Madhuri her first Filmfare award, a rapport was struck with Indra Kumar that resulted in two more blockbusters - Beta (1991) and Raja (1995). 1990 onwards, a hit film per year followed including Saajan, Khalnayak Prem Pratigaya, cumulating in Hum Aapke Hain Koun (1994), Hindi cinema's biggest blockbuster to date. Madhuri mania ensured the success of Raja (1995), a film with many flaws, thus Madhuri was renamed the female Amitabh Bachchan' which was again a great achievement for her. One of her greatest hits is Hum Apke Hain Kaun which gave her fame, money and a never forgetful role. Thus we can say that she had travelled a long way from the beginning as a novice to a great achiever.

Prakash Jha's Mrityudand (1997) ensured critical acclaim if not box-office success. Madhuri still had the fire that was shown in Tezaab, the intensity that came to light in Beta. Age, said the industry was catching up on Madhuri. However, Yash Chopra's Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), proved otherwise. The film was a phenomenal success at the box-office and an overwhelming mass acceptance by the audience. Madhuri never looked better, danced better or acted better. Madhuri went on to win a handful of awards for her performances in Mrityudand and Dil To Pagal Hai, and even dedicated her Filmfare award to her critics.

In 1998 Madhuri had only one major film to her credit - CN Chandra's Wajood. Unfortunately the film failed to recreate the hysteria of Tezaab (1988). The year saw Madhuri in a host of different characters. MF Hussain's Gajagamini is an art film that had Madhuri playing a range of characters. In Boney Kapoor's Pukar Madhuri's got a negative role, as well as the usual dose of triangular love stories. Madhuri's first south Indian film, Engineer, is a techno thriller.

Madhuri gave us a splendid performance in Pukar after marriage. The actress chose to go the family way when she married an Indian American physician from Denver, Dr. Sriram Nene, in 1999. The actress today has two sons, Areen (born in March 2003 in Florida) and Rayan (born on March 8, 2005 in Colorado).

Then after a short gap, she came back with Lajja, a super performance that bagged her the Best Supporting Actor award in the Lux Zee Cine Awards 2002.

Her Hum Aapke Hain Sanam stars Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, and Aishwarya Rai (in a special appearance) and she's all set to give better and better performances in the future.

When it was considered that Madhuri has become old, her Dil to Pagal Hai broke the hearts of the competitors. Anybody who saw Madhuri in the film would agree that she looked unassumingly beautiful coupled with her dance that was absolutely scintillating. She received the Filmfare that year for the best actress and said that she can never be old as said by the reporters. Thus all in all she was a hit and her fame rose to the optimum level when she became the Chandramukhi of Devdas. She looked marvelous with her magnetic smile and her dance that was totally classical based was the attraction for all.

The beautiful Madhuri recently went on print to say that she will work in Bollywood, provided she gets quality roles. Hope that happens soon. Meanwhile, let's wait for her next release!!!