Madhur Dixit .
Mo
By Khalid Mohamed
MUMBAI: No, she isn't into siestas. Since the summer sun has
baked her apartment, she has switched on the
air-conditioner. And the video screen's alive, showcasing a
classic Charlie Chaplin comedy.
Freezing Chaplin with the remote control, Madhuri Dixit
sashays towards the diwan, rightaway embracing a plump
cushion as if it were a childhood teddy bear. Papa smiles at
me. Mum, with benign amusement, responds to a namaskar.
So what's on the movie maharani's mind, circa 4 p.m. on a
Sunday? A flash of that famous smile and she says, ``Oh, I
was thinking about the kind of films and roles I'd like to
do now. I'm taking my time to accept new projects. Let's
face it, our movies are absolutely rooted in entertainment,
you know full of songs-n-dances. As an actress, I'd like to
get away from the flip-n-frivolous. I've had my fill of that
boogie woogie business.''
In the last 12 years, M.D. has done 68 films. ``There was a
time when I was into seven projects simultaneously, on one
occasion shooting 48 hours non-stop without a nap. Once
while shooting for Dil, I fell asleep in the middle of a
shot and had to be woken up by the director.''
If an extra-terrestrial should visit Mumbaiwood and express
a desire to see Madhuri Dixit flicks, which would she
recommend to the ET?
Squeals of laughter and then the reply, ``Hmmmm, let's see
Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!' for reflecting firm family values,
Dil To Pagal Hai for its young romantic spirit, Sangeet and
Prem Pratiggya because they're very close to my heart,
Tezaab which made me famous, Khal-Nayak, which was so
controversial. Quite a few films actually. If I recommended
any more, the extra-terrestrial would catch the next flight
back to his, or should I say her, planet.''
Ask her about the fickle ways of showbiz and she notes
sagely, ``Of course, like any other business, showbiz is
need-based. I've never been naive enough to gasp, `Omigosh,
this is the way it works out here.' Everything depends on
how hot-and-happening you are.''
Still, how is she gonna snag movies after her heart? ``No
problem. Either you go out and find them or you cultivate
the patience for them to happen. In any case, besides
work-work-work, I have to pay a bit of attention to my
private life which I've ignored so far. I'd like to spend
quality time with my parents.''
Some more food for thought - how does La Dix react to the
incessant howls from the media about her single woman
status? ``Yeah, the press does seem to be obsessed with my
shaadi. It's amazing how my marriage, or the lack of it, has
become a national debate. Believe me, the closest I've come
to a wedding is those suhaag raat scenes on a studio set.''
Bring up the subject of the male of the species and she
declaims, ``There are a few good men who don't mind making a
cup of tea, or helping out with domestic chores, but they're
in a minority. It's the woman who has changed with time -
today, she plays the double role of a careerperson as well
as someone who nurtures the household.''
Would Madhuri Dixit rate herself as a woman of the next
millennium? ``Sure, I would. I'd like to think I'm a
progressive woman, someone who is independent and
forward-thinking. Sacrifices, sobs and self-denial are
something that I only do in the movies. It's essential to
move with the times - absorb the discipline and professional
work ethic of the West while remaining rooted to one's
Indianness. For instance, I feel equally at home at an
arangetram as I do in a disco. And I can enjoy the music of
Bhimsen Joshi as much as I enjoy Michael Jackson.''
And now she has become M.F. Husain's muse, hasn't she?
``It's funny being called a muse and all that. All I can say
is that Husain saab's Gaj Gamini has been a learning
experience. It's a film of ideas and visual beauty, every
scene and moment is unexpected and intriguing.''
La Dix used to sketch once because, as she puts it, ``I've
always been fascinated more with faces than with abstracts
or still life. As a kid, I'd sketch my parents over and over
again. I wanted to catch all their moods and expressions,
from the angry to the caring.''
Ask her to list some of the faces which fascinate her, and
she says, ``Top of the mind, I can think of Albert Einstein,
Ingrid Bergman and Nargis.''
And her top-o'-the-mind works of art? ``Ravi Varma, Husain
saab, Van Gogh, Picasso, Michelangelo and an anonymous
sculptor's marble statue of a woman in a veil which I saw in
Hyderabad's Salar Jung museum.''
Bring up a remark made in print by her co-star Anil Kapoor,
advising her not to lose sight of the blockbusters, and she
reasons, ``But I've always maintained a balance between the
offbeat and the onbeat. So if I'll be seen in the surreal
Gaj Gamini this year, I'll also be seen in Arzoo, Pukaar and
Engineer.''
What if Yash Chopra and Shyam Benegal were to offer her a
film at this very moment? Which one would would she go for?
A seasoned q-and-a artiste, she says triumphantly, ``Where's
the problem? I'd accept both and do them simultaneously - in
double shifts. Shoot for one by day and the other by
night.''