Madhuri Dixit who returned to Bollywood after a long hiatus was recently seen in Kalank. With roles written for women of various age groups, Bollywood seems to be evolved and thus the actor feels that the new crop of directors in the industry have given her new-found energy to do better work. “I am going through a lot of scripts. Currently, I am enjoying this phase as there is so much interesting work to do. What I want to do is my choice.
I am no longer insecure. I am reading scripts and looking forward to new ideas that these young directors are presenting these days. It’s going to be fun,” she says. The actor, who was known to shoulder women-oriented roles single-handedly, has no inhibitions about doing multi-starrers such as Total Dhamaal and Kalank these days. “Why should I worry about that? When I look back I feel happy and blessed that I got the opportunities. I have been there and done that.
I believe that you have to do your best in the space that is given to you. There are so many actors in one frame sharing screen space together. The onus of a hit or a flop is not on one of us. Whether the film does well or not—we are all responsible for it. These days the energy level is high and that’s why the scenes come out so well. Sometimes you never know when you may turn out better in the scenes as there are so many layers of emotions and reactions coming from your co-stars.
It’s actually a fun process as you don’t know how they will react to a particular scene. I got to learn a lot during the process of shooting (Kalank). They are a talented bunch of youth these days and it was thrilling sharing the screen with them,” says Madhuri However, she rues missing out dancing on the ‘Pardesiya’ song with Alia in Kalank. “I missed dancing in it. I watched Alia and was amazed that she danced gracefully despite not having learnt Kathak. But finally I got another song which was choreographed by Sarojji,” says the actor. On her relationship with choreographer Saroj Khan, she says, “We have an understanding between us and our thoughts are so similar. I love her style and I understand what she wants from me.”
Reports claimed that Madhuri’s presence on the sets on Kalank rattled the new generation of actors. “Everyone was unnecessarily frightened. Director Abhishek Varman created an aura about me that made the youngsters nervous I think. But I made sure that I let them settle down on the sets and watched them admiringly. I showed them that I loved what they were doing and they have all done a great job. It was not as if we were acting but conversing on the scenes,” reminisces the actor.
Interestingly, Madhuri shared space with Sanjay Dutt after a gap of 22 years. They were last seen together in Mahaanta. “We have done so many hit films together so it was a pleasure sharing screen space after so long. He used to joke calling me ‘ma’am’ on the sets so I called him ‘sir’. He was known as an action-oriented hero but he changed his image after Saajan (1991). Those days we were shocked that an action hero was made to do the role of a handicapped person. Everyone said that how can you turn an action hero into a handicapped character, the film won’t do well. But the film went on to do wonders. Different actors can play different roles and Sanjay got the recognition he deserved after that film,” says the 51-year-old, admiringly.
Like other actors who have diversified and started their own production houses, Madhuri along with her husband Dr Shriram Nene has launched RNM Moving Pictures. Their film 15th August was recently launched on the streaming platform Netflix. “I am busy with my Marathi film 15th August, which had a recent released digitally. Producing a film is like taking care of a baby. Right from inception to scripting, the journey is so long till it reaches the theatres. It’s a chance you take. It’s a more difficult than being an actor. As an actor once our job is over, we go home but a producer’s job happens every day. You have to be at it constantly,” says the actor about her latest venture.