On this week on ‘The Anupam Kher Show’, it was Madhuri Dixit’s effervescent and bubbling persona that stole the show. Madhuri who has been a part of the Indian film fraternity for over 30 years still has people go g’a-ga’ over the very sight of her. One of the few actors who still make a lot of hearts go ‘dhak-dhak’ opened up about her journey in Bollywood, how she became a star and what made her leave everything behind at the peak of her career to start a family many miles away. Here are a few things that we learnt about Madhuri Dixit Nene on ‘The Anupam Kher Show’. 

Career plans: While she was growing up, Madhuri never thought she would become an actress. Coming from a middle-class Maharashtrian family, like everyone in her family she planned to study further. She was planning to become a microbiologist and even pursued the course for a whole six months. Now, we wonder what would have happened if this beautiful lass would have opted for a different career path?  Well, for one thing, ‘Hum Aapke Hain Kaun’ wouldn’t have been the same without her. 

First Movie: Madhuri’s first movie was Abodh that released in 1984. She shot for the movie during her vacations in the 12th grade. Though her first movie was a total box office failure and few others after that, she continued to get film offers. We are so happy that the initial set back in her career didn’t stop her from pursuing what she loved the most. 

First audition: For her first audition, she was asked to read from the back of a hindi book to see if she didn’t have a typical Maharashtrian accent. She passed the test with flying colors and landed her first role in the movie ‘Abodh’. 

Career Re-launched: It was Subhas Ghai who gave Madhuri her first big break in the movie Tezaab. Madhuri’s then hair dresser gave her pictures to Subhash Ghai who was shooting for the movie ‘Karma’ in Kashmir. She was called to shoot for a song for the movie, when Subhas Ghai told her that she is not meant to play supporting characters but leads in movie. It is then he re-launched Madhuri in the blockbuster hit ‘Tezaab’. We are glad for that big break! Aren’t we?

First hit ‘Tezaab’:  For one of the songs in the movie, Saroj ji asked Madhuri Dixit to rehearse for 30 days. Despite Madhuri being a trained kathak dancer, she wasn’t aware of the ‘Bollywood’ style of dancing and readily took up the challenge put in front of her. The go-getter attitude is what sets this beauty apart and no wonder her ‘latkas’ and ‘jhatkas’ are still talk of the town.

The biggest critic: Despite her phenomenal success, Madhuri’s parents didn’t treat her any different. Like her other siblings, she too had to lend a helping hand in all the household chores. The biggest critic that Madhuri feels in her life was her father and the one film that he thoroughly enjoyed was ‘Hum Aapke Hain Kaun’. Her family values surely kept her grounded!

Positive attitude: Like success didn’t get to her head neither did failure break her spirit. For Madhuri, her family has been her backbone. Whenever, she felt depressed, her mom would always console her by saying that ups and downs are a part of life, and how you deal with it, is what defined your character. With that killer attitude, no wonder she is such a success even today!

Her husband: Madhuri met her husband in Los Angeles for the first time. It was her brother who made the arrangement. When she met Mr. Nene for the first time, he asked her what she did for a living and she replied, ‘I am an actress’. It was then and there she decided she wanted to spend her life with him. Coming from a typical Maharashtrian family, he wasn’t really aware about Bollywood and so had no clue who or what Madhuri Dixit was. We are glad that Madhuri found out what she was looking for! Madhuri left at the peak of her career and settled with Mr. Nene in the US. 

Post marriage: Madhuri enjoyed her life every bit while she was in the States. Like every other person she could go shopping and lead a very normal life. She got the opportunity to instill the same values in her children that her parents had instilled in her. The proud mum that Mrs. Nene is; she didn’t regret her decision of leaving it all behind in India, even once. 

Future aspirations: She has an online dance academy, www.dancewithmadhuri.com which has Terence Lewis, Saroj Khan and Remo D’Souza as some of the dance gurus. It was Mr. Nene who gave her the idea to open an online dance school. It is free of charge and aimed at spreading Indian dance forms throughout the world. We hope with the help of the dance school, the country gets to see many more Madhuris in the future. 

In case you have missed the last episode, click here to watch.