Sugar daddies, affairs, scandals, publicity stunts... Madhuri Dixit is better known for her controversies than her talents. With seven flops behind her, any other heroine would have fizzled out like last night's champagne, but not Ms. Dexterous Dixit - the manipulative Madhuri has somehow managed to keep in the news. In a interview Madhuri Dixit handles our questions as cleverly as she handles her men. In both cases, giving nothing away...!
With barely four years in the industry, you have the dubious distinction of having the maximum number of Godfathers. Subhash Ghai plainly admits he is your sugar-daddy, and others like Anil Kapoor and Sunjay Dutt have been secretly recommending you to various producers! The Deadly Dutt appears to have taken over from where the Kapoor has left, as your Guardian Angel'. No wonder you've landed so many films (Zameen, Mushkil, Thanedaar, etc.) with him. Don't you think it's a dangerous game - bartering yourself for the sake of a role?
If people want to recommend me for their film, why should I object? I see no harm in it. But I don't believe in pleasing' anyone just for a role. It's preposterous! And producers aren't fools. They won't accept me blindly just because a hero has promoted me. Recommendations alone are of no use. It's not so easy. One has also to prove oneself as a good actress, only then can you land a role. And though some of my films were acquired through recommendation, I think my work has also been appreciated.
You say producers have taken you on the basis of your work. And yet, every single film of yours, from the unheard of Abodh to the much-publicized Khatron Ke Khiladi has flopped miserably. Shekhar Suman has gone on record saying that you are the only heroine who has signed so many films without even a single hit. How do you account for this?
Yes, all my previous films were flops. But I was new, and because I was anxious to get started soon, I made some foolish choices. I accepted films where I was offered only a tiny part, only because they belonged to big banners - like Prasad Banerjee's Swati, Sohanlal Films' Awara Baap, and of course, Abodh. These films went by without anyone noticing me. After that, I signed some good films without realising that they were all routine' roles, the usual masala Hindi film, with a lot of action and melodrama. Most of them were hero-oriented, so I never had scope to really perform. However, it's become imperative for me to have a hit release. Success, in industry parlance, means having a single hit. Never mind how good an actress is, until she gets that, she's a nobody. So, now I'm anxious because some of my films are slated for release soon. These next few months are going to be the most crucial period in my career.
Govinda hasn't forgiven you for walking out of T. Rama Rao's Sada Suhagan because you did not want to be paired with him when he was going through a lean period. Today, he is at the top and you need him desperately. But he has refused to even look at you, though you keep sending him feelers to work with you. How matlabi can you get?
Gawd! I'm fed up of giving explanations about this controversy. I had signed Sada Suhagan along with Swati and Awara Baap. Simultaneously, I was also being signed for heroine roles in films like Uttar Dakshin. Big producers like Boney Kapoor had also began approaching me. So I explained to T. Rama Rao that I did not want to act in a small role when I was getting heroine' roles. I did this for my career, not because I had anything against Govinda. In fact, he was still quite a big hero (despite a few flops) after Ilzaam, and one wouldn't shy away from working with him. So I don't know why I'm not being paired opposite him.
Like all star-mamas, your mother too is pushy, dominating and ambitious. But while most of them stop at chaperoning their star-daughters to studios, your mother escorts you even to parties and is often seen goading you to make contacts' with producers and directors. She even sits through your interviews with the press! Isn't this the limit? You're old enough to manage your own life and career. Or doesn't your mother trust you enough?
My mother is not the pushy kind. Of course, she wants only the best for her children. But she definitely won't push me into anything I don't want. She's just there by my side when I need her. Ours is a typical tightly-knit' joint family set-up. When I'm not shooting, my mother is at home, playing housewife'. But otherwise, she always comes with me. You see her on the sets when I'm shooting, and when I'm home, she too is there. I'm attached to her and feel comfortable with her around, even now. That's why we're seen together so often.
An industrywalla had once remarked that Rupa, your older sister, is a better looking girl than you, and she should have been in films, not you. Rumouredly, you have even discouraged her from making any attempts at becoming a star, simply because of sibling jealousy and the fear of competition!
I am proud that someone thinks my sister is better looking than me. But I believe a lot in destiny. See, she's an architect and she's good at her work. I'm an actress and I have acting... I believe I was destined to be an actress and she, an architect. And anyway, looks are not the sole criteria to become an actress. There are so many pretty girls around, but not all of them are successful. I think whatever is chalked out for you in life, you go by that path. That's destiny!
You may have fooled people earlier about your affair with Anil Kapoor. But everybody has seen through your game. Why don't you admit once and for all that the whole thing was just one big publicity stunt, started to promote you?
I was not the one who made it a publicity stunt. It was other people.
It's amazing how stardom can change even the most quiet and unassuming persons. Insiders claim that ever since you hit the big time, you have become arrogant and snooty, and have forgotten your old friends and well-wishers. Considering success is yet to come your way, don't you think such behavior (which you appear to have copied from Ice Maiden Meenakshi Seshadri) is not only foolish, but misplaced?
I don't think I'm arrogant or snooty at all. In fact, friends and relatives who've known me and my quiet and withdrawn nature are quite happy to see me now, mixing and mingling with people. Now that I know quite a few people in the industry, I'm much more open and friendly than I ever was in the past. And of course not, who says I imitate Meenakshi Seshadri? It's all rubbish.
Your coy and demure act doesn't fool anybody in the least, not after all those uninhibited scenes in Tezaab. How could you wear such absolutely obscene and revealing clothes for a song sequence in the film, and gyrate vulgarly in front of a two-hundred strong audience? Have you no sense of shame at all? Not only that, your dress sense has also made you the laughing stock of the industry. Aren't you aware of the ridiculous figure you cut?
People attach a nave and innocent image with me because of the character I played in Abodh'. But in Tezaab, my role is a total contrast. I play a very modern and liberated kind of girl, a pop singer. So, I had to sing and perform in front of an audience and do all those things. But it doesn't mean I'm like that in real life. I am still a very shy and demure girl. I haven't changed. As for my dress sense, I know it's bad. People have been telling me about it. All I can say is, I have a lot of learning to do.
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