(MENAFN-Khaleej Times) MADHURI DIXIT-NENE is all set to scorch the screen once again after her outing in Dedh Ishqiya
Madhuri Dixit is back doing what she is best at - playing a strong woman - in this weekend’s release Gulaab Gang
MADHURI DIXIT-NENE is all set to scorch the screen once again after her outing in Dedh Ishqiya. In this weekend’s release Gulaab Gang she plays a feisty woman who fights for the empowerment of women. Tagged as the ‘Last Female Superstar’, by the business minds within the Bollywood film industry, Madhuri was an instant crowd puller during the nineties who mesmerised an entire nation with her dancing prowess and acting skills. Her expressive face and the effortless ease with which she could appear sensual without looking vulgar, made her the darling of the masses as well as the critics.
Within Bollywood’s inner circle, it was an open secret that superstars like Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan would blindly sign on any movie that had Madhuri in the lead because of the respect they had for her. After her marriage to Dr Sriram Nene in 1999, she took a sabbatical from Bollywood, only to make a comeback in 2007 with Aaja Nachle. After doing a special dance number in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani(2013) with Ranbir Kapoor, she was seen as a lead actress in Dedh Ishqiya (2014).
The actress spoke fondly of Dubai when City Times caught up with her in Mumbai in the midst of a promotional drive for her latest release. While revealing that she and the Gulaab Gang team will fly into Dubai ahead of the movie’s release, Madhuri spoke fondly of the city. “Dubai is very special to me because a lot of my fans are based there. Last year I came there for a concert with Shah Rukh Khan, which was very special for me. So many people came to see our show. It was fantastic.”
Madhuri Dixit spoke to City Times about Bollywood’s new found respect for women, Gulaab Gang and how she spends her free time at home with her kids and husband.What drew you to this character in Gulaab Gang?
It was about what Rajjo (her character in Gulaab Gang) stands for. Woman empowerment. She believes that women should be educated and not just women but generally everyone because education changes a lot of things in life. It brings about the understanding of gender equality. It brings about, for women especially, the independence that she needs. It gives her a choice to stand on her own feet and gives her a lot of confidence. She can just go out and do whatever she wants. Rajjo stands for all these things and this is what attracted me towards this role.
Dedh Ishqiya, which released earlier in the year, had you playing a bold character. The film was loved by critics and a section of the audience but did not create great waves at the box office. How do you look back at the journey?
We had great fun shooting for that film because the cast was full of superb actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Arshad Warsi and Huma Qureshi. The haveli (mansion) that we shot at in Lucknow was tremendous. It added a lot of character to the movie. Begum (her character in Dedh Ishqiya) was very different from what I have played so far. Begum is a strong woman but also a weak woman. She is weak but pretends to be strong. There is a lot of sadness in her life. She had a lot of issues in her life. In front of people she is strong, a begum, beautiful and poetic but from inside she is dying. She is suffocated in that haveli, she wants to run away and have a life of her own. It was worth portraying her character.
There is a new chapter being written in Bollywood for women. You have seen the other side of Bollywood in the nineties where heroines were mostly limited to being props. How do you look at this change now?
It is wonderful to see women in cinema today. Not only on screen but also off screen. A lot of women are on the field - like assistant directors, script writers, camerapersons, make-up people. They have taken up roles even behind the screen. It is so wonderful to see that. When I was working in the nineties, the only women on set used to be the actresses and the hairdressers and the rest used to be men. It is great to see them taking up these responsible positions. There are new sensibilities coming in, as well as new directors who are perceiving women in a different way by writing roles which are very different. It is a wonderful time to be a woman today, not just in cinema but if you look outside, at the corporate world, woman are turning entrepreneurs and trying new things. The CEOs of big companies are women who are making decisions and making things happen. It is wonderful to see women everywhere today.How do your current roles compare to the ones from the past?
Even when I was doing movies earlier I had strong roles like Beta (1992), Raja (1995), Khalnaayak (1993) to a certain extent, Mrityudand(1997), Prahaar (1991); these were very strong roles and I think I get a bit attracted to these kind of roles. Rajjo has a strong belief in what she is doing so that is also one of the reasons I did Gulaab Gang.
You are one of the best dancers in Bollywood. Will we see you doing a musical anytime soon?
I would love to do a full musical but there’s only so much you can do. The last two years I have been working on Dedh Ishqiya and Gulaab Gang and have been busy promoting these films. Once this is done. I will relax and plan more. Dance is my passion and I would love to do a music and dance film soon. Even a silly comic movie or a family film, I am open to that too. It just happened that I was offered these strong and beautiful roles (in Dedh Ishqiya and Gulaab Gang) and I could not say no.
Juhi Chawla has been quoted as saying she did Gulaab Gang because of you. She was one of your competitors in the nineties. How much has the dynamics of your relationship changed after working with her in this film?
At that time we did not have time for anything else. I have worked with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Devdas (2002), Preity Zinta in Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke(2001), Manisha Koirala in Lajja (2001) and many other actresses. I got to know them a little bit because I worked with them. I never had the chance to work with Juhi earlier. So this time when the opportunity came and we got to know each other a little bit it was great working with her. She is a wonderful person and a great actress.What do you do when you are not working?
Usually when I am not working I am spending time with my husband and kids. We plan to do something or the other, we chill out, we go out somewhere, sit at home and relax, talk to each other.
While playing strong characters there is so much energy that you give out, how do you usually recharge after finishing an intense scene?
I was playing strong characters last year nearly simultaneously. I was shooting a little bit of Dedh Ishqiya and a little bit of Gulaab Gang back and forth. It is not so hard because we are used to doing three films at a time, shooting in the same day. We read our scripts a lot of times, there are different costumes to bring us closer to characters and we know our scenes. I just shut off once I am done with the movie. I just leave the character and proceed towards real life.Who are the actresses in the current lot that you really admire?
I love Vidya Balan, Parineeti and Priyanka Chopra, Rani Mukerji, Alia Bhatt is so new, young and a very good actress. I like Anushka Sharma too. I have only seen her in Band Baaja Baaraat so far. I hope all these bright actresses continue getting the right kind of scripts.
Juhi turns bad
The actress tells us what prompted her to set aside her bubbly personality to play an outright villain in Gulaab Gang
Arti Dani
WHEN VEERA, THE young girl portrayed by Alia Bhatt in the recently released Highway, tells the leading man of the film Randeep Hooda that she does not want to marry him or bear his children, she just wants to spend a little more time with him, you know Bollywood’s leading ladies are not the same anymore. They are out there, exploring various shades of their personalities and not afraid to break stereotypical images of the Indian woman.
In a similar fashion, in Gulaab Gang, director Soumik Sen wanted to reverse the trend where men are portrayed either as heroes or villains. In this film, women portray both the central hero and the villain. While Madhuri Dixit-Nene plays a firebrand leader Juhi Chawla portrays a power hungry politician.
Considered among the few actresses in Bollywood with an extrememly accurate comic timing, Juhi Chawla made a mark with movies like Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988), Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke (1993) and many others. After her marriage, she ventured into parallel cinema by doing roles in movies like 3 Deewarein (2003), My Brother Nikhil (2005), Bas Ek Pal (2006), I Am (2011) etc - and managed to stand out with her innate talent. Here she tells us what drew her to play a role with extreme shades of grey in this weekend’s release.
This is the first time you are playing a character with a negative shade. What was your first reaction when you were offered this role?
It started from being appalled and saying, ‘Are you crazy. Why would I do a role like that?’ to then considering it and looking at the larger picture and understanding the director’s vision and saying ‘Yeah. Why not? Let’s explore. This is something different to do.’ As an actor I am not running any race. I do not have to prove anything to anyone. I am just doing it because it feels interesting to me and then realising also, that is a casting coup, Madhuri (Dixit – Nene) and myself coming together for the first time, I knew it would be fun. It eventually did become fun but getting there took around a month and half of understanding the character in a different light.
You were colleagues with Madhuri during the nineties. Has the dynamics of your relation changed during the course of this film?
Before this film I just knew Madhuri, pleasantries were exchanged at events or at shoots where both of us were doing different things. This time, a day before we actually shot, the director called us to his office and left the two of us together which was the most wonderful thing. That meeting broke the ice, I felt so much at ease. Okay, now I know Madhuri, now when I go to the set, I will not feel like, ‘Oh God, what is going to happen here’. It was wonderful and we had very few days of working together but in those days in between shots, sometimes we would just talk about home, family, kids and of course work and how we mean to approach it.
Do you think Indian cinema is finally celebrating the talent of women on the big screen?
Well, I think if this film becomes a success, which I am hoping it does, then, yes, it would encourage other people to come forward with their scripts for women because people have good scripts but until it is converted to a film, until it does good business you are not able to make the next film. So it’s creative and business at the end of the day. It cannot be just creative.
People want to have more films with stories based on women but its not always possible because you do not always find funds, distributers do not have the confidence that it will work. So I think the way forward is people will have to come to the theatres, appreciate good films, and then more females will be encouraged to make different films and give you good cinema and not just the one that they make thinking, ‘Oh this will be a success in any case’.
Photos: AFP, AP, Mohammed Mustafa Khan