The magic of Madhuri

Madhuri Dixit walks into a room full of eager journalists, stunned into silence by her presence even though they’d been waiting for this 6 pm-appointment all day. It was the unexpected thrill of seeing someone you’ve long admired on the silver screen, walk out of it in flesh and blood. For the two minutes that Madhuri greeted the members of the media with her famous smile, they could only respond with mumbled ‘hellos’, still recovering from the surprise of her real-ness.

As she settled herself daintily in front of us, dressed simply in a grey salwar-kameez, we began to see her afresh. Without the intermediacy of the camera, its hard gaze, its penchant for neat lines and pat perfection, Madhuri’s face looks fluid, young, almost vulnerable. The smile reaches the eyes easily and the glow she emanates isn’t coming from make-up alone. There’s a certain peace about her that makes her answer annoyingly personal (“Do you think you have found your better half in Dr Nene?) and tiringly irrelevant questions (Which one’s better — Sheila or Munni?) with perfect poise and good humour.

That she’s happy and content is for anyone to see. It is perhaps with this sense of security that she answers a question about the role of Sonam Kapoor’s mother that was offered to her recently. “I won’t feel weird about playing a mother. I am a mother in real life, after all. But the script is what matters. Once I talk to Anilji about the film, I’ll take the decision,” she says. Playing a mother would still, however, be conforming to her image off screen. Critics and connoisseurs will now like her to explore new grounds as an actress and take on unconventional roles that were probably not written for heroines in mainstream commercial Hindi cinema during the time she ruled the industry. Is she willing to take those risks, make a complete departure from the good mother, great dancer, stunning diva image she has on and off screen? “Why not?” she replies, emphasising on the “it has to be a good role” condition, once again. “I have no qualms about taking on different kind of roles. I am an actress, and I’m willing to experiment, as long as the film is entertaining,” Madhuri assures us.

But the question we are still asking her is how far is she really prepared to go? Will she step out of the tried and tested framework of big banner productions and work with new and young filmmakers who are truly pushing the boundaries of Hindi cinema today? “I’m looking at working with good directors, whether they are new or established ones doesn’t matter. I want to work with filmmakers who can present me in a new light, as long as my audience identifies with what I do,” she insists.

Madhuri tells us she is impressed with the work of new filmmakers like Vishal Bharadwaj and Imtiaz Ali and is looking at several scripts that are being offered to her by various producers and directors. While she’s taking her time picking and choosing films that really excite her, she’s thoroughly enjoying her time on Jhalak Dikhla Jaa, Sony Entertainment Television’s popular dance show. Apart from reconnecting with an art form she truly loves, she’s also basking in the wave of affection towards her that is sweeping through the episodes. She’s, no doubt, the centre of all attention.

Is it disorienting to walk out of the role of a normal wife and mother and switch on her star persona again? Isn’t she dazed by the back and forth between her serene domestic life and the world of glitz and glamour? “No, it’s not disorienting. I was used to it always. It’s like swimming... it’s like second nature to me now. And it’s great to come back to so much love and respect,” she smiles. Turning on the glamour might not be difficult for her, but was it difficult to tune into her artistic side again, especially after the all-consuming experience of motherhood? “I don’t know if I really worked towards keeping in touch with my artistic side. I did miss my craft sometimes and I practised Kathak whenever I got the time. But I don’t think you need to make special efforts towards it,” she says.

Back on the sets of JDJ, it seems like Madhuri never lost that touch. Dance has been her passion and it’s her dream to start her own dance school. “I haven’t made any formal plans as of now. But it will be a multi-genre dance school spread across different cities over the world, perhaps,” she shares. The other dream she had, is already fulfilled. “I always wanted to have my own family. To have my husband and my kids with me is wonderful. I enjoyed every minute of it,” she expresses. Her fans however wish she’d stayed on longer, for with her was gone the last of Hindi cinema’s consummate ‘act’resses. One can only imagine the immense contribution she could’ve made had she stuck around, fuelling the imaginations of filmmakers to write different films around her, in turn pushing the envelope of cinema itself.

But these are projections of our expectations, fired as they are by the lack of real artistes in the current crop of model-turned-actresses, we realise. Madhuri doesn’t miss any of it. “My family and kids give me the greatest satisfaction, more than my work ever has. I don’t regret going away from the industry for so long,” Madhuri says, simply. But she is back, and we’re taking heart in that.