Dinesh Kamath's Movie Column 'Top Actresses who have become Producers - 3' (Madhuri Dixit) that was published in Newsband

Movie Column

Top Actresses who have become Producers - 3

Madhuri Dixit

By Dinesh Kamath

Madhuri Dixit is another top actress who has become Producer. She has produced the film ‘15th August’.

Madhuri Dixit was one of the most popular and highest-paid Hindi film actresses in the late 1980s and 1990s, she has been praised by critics for her acting and dancing skills.[3] She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including six Filmfare Awards. She has been nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress a record fourteen times, and along with Raakhee is the most nominated actress in the acting categories, with 16 nominations. In 2008, the Government of India awarded her with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour of the country.

After making her acting debut in the 1984 drama Abodh, Dixit had her first commercial success with the 1988 action romance Tezaab. She went on to establish herself as a leading actress of Bollywood by starring in several top-grossing productions, including Ram Lakhan (1989), Tridev (1989), Kishen Kanhaiya (1990), Dil (1990), Saajan (1991), Beta (1992), Khalnayak (1993), Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994), Raja (1995) and Dil To Pagal Hai (1997) — and received critical recognition for her work in Prem Pratigyaa (1989), Parinda (1989), Prahaar (1991), Anjaam (1994), Mrityudand (1997), Pukar (2000), Lajja (2001) and Devdas (2002). Dixit returned to film acting in 2007 with the musical Aaja Nachle. Subsequently, she starred in the black comedy Dedh Ishqiya (2014) and crime drama Gulaab Gang (2014). She made her debut in Marathi cinema with the 2018 comedy drama Bucket List. Her highest-grossing release came with the adventure comedy Total Dhamaal (2019), which ranks among the highest-grossing Indian films of all time.

In addition to acting in films, Dixit has been engaged in philanthropic activities. She has worked with UNICEF since 2014 to advocate the rights of children and prevent child labour. She was appointed the brand ambassador for the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign, by the Government of India. She has participated in several concert tours and stage shows, hosted Sony TV's Kahin Na Kahin Koi Hai and featured as a talent judge for the dance reality shows Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, So You Think You Can Dance and Dance Deewane.

Dixit became an overnight star and is still popular as Mohini. Her song "Ek Do Teen" became famous and she received her first Filmfare nomination. In 1988, Dixit finally attained recognition when she played the role of Mohini, an impoverished and miserable woman, who is forced to dance to make money for her father in N. Chandra's action romance Tezaab opposite Anil Kapoor. The movie was the highest-grossing film of the year and she received her first Filmfare Best Actress Award nomination; the film's success established Dixit as a leading actress of Hindi cinema, and marked a significant turning point in her career. It proved to be Dixit's first commercial success. After that she didn’t look back.

She played Radha Shastri, a girl who falls in love with her childhood friend, Kapoor's character, however, she finds it hard to convince her father (Anupam Kher). Finishing up as the second highest-grossing film of the year, Ram Lakhan emerged as a "super-hit" at the box office.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra's drama Parinda, co-starring Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff and Nana Patekar was another box office hit. This film is one of my favourite films. She played Paro, who is killed on her wedding night along with Karan (played by Kapoor) by a gangster (played by Patekar).

Another film that she acted in and is worth mentioning is Rakesh Roshan's action comedy film Kishen Kanhaiya (alongside Anil Kapoor and Shilpa Shirodkar). It tells the story of twin brothers who are separated at birth and re-unite in their youth. Dixit and Shirodkar played the love interests of Kapoor's characters. Dixit next played a strong-willed woman in the hit action drama Izzatdaar. She won her first Filmfare Best Actress Award for portraying Madhu, a rich and arrogant girl who falls in love with a poorer boy, in Indra Kumar's romantic drama Dil opposite Aamir Khan. It emerged as the highest-grossing film of the year.

Dixit's performance in Kumar's drama Beta, opposite Anil Kapoor, was simply marvelous. Dixit's portrayal of Saraswati, an educated woman who rebels against her manipulative mother-in-law, earned her critical acclaim.

The Indian movie goers loved her performance in film Khalnayak. In 1993, Dixit reunited with Sanjay Dutt and Jackie Shroff in Subhash Ghai's crime drama Khalnayak. Her portrayal of Ganga, a police officer, who volunteers to go undercover, to trap an escaped criminal, garnered her critical acclaim.

In 1994, Dixit starred in Rahul Rawail's psychological thriller Anjaam, which marked her first of many collaborations with Shahrukh Khan. Dixit's portrayal of Shivani Chopra, a revenge-seeking wife and mother earned her a seventh nomination for the Filmfare Best Actress Award. The film performed moderately at the box office. Her performance in Rajshri Productions' family drama Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! opposite Salman Khan was simply great. The film emerged as one of the biggest hits in the history of Hindi cinema and made Rs1.35 billion worldwide, breaking the record of the film Sholay (1975). Dixit's release of 1997 was Yash Chopra's musical romantic drama Dil To Pagal Hai. Co-starring Shah Rukh Khan and Karisma Kapoor, the film depicts the love stories of the dancers in a musical dance troupe. Her role of Pooja, a woman faced with a moral dilemma in a love triangle fetched her a fourth Filmfare Best Actress Award.

The last film in which Madhuri acted and deserves a mention is Sanjay Leela Bhansali's period romance Devdas, co-starring Shahrukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai. It was based on Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel of the same name. She portrayed Chandramukhi, a courtesan who is in love with the title character.

Dixit is regarded as one of the most influential and popular actresses of Indian cinema. In 2012, Dixit was placed at the first position by NDTV in the listing of "The most popular actresses of all time". The same year, she was featured by Yahoo.com at the first position as one of the ten most iconic beauties of Hindi cinema. In a 2013 national poll conducted by CNN-IBN on the occasion of the centenary of Indian cinema, Dixit was voted at the second position, behind Sridevi, as "India's Greatest Actress in 100 Years".

In March 2012, a wax figure of Dixit was put on display in London's Madame Tussaud's wax museum. From 2012–16 and in 2018, Dixit has featured on Forbes India's "Celebrity 100," a list based on the income and popularity of India's celebrities. In 2018, she was among the twenty Indians invited for the Oscar Academy's Class of 2018.

Over the last two years she’s worked on an international show inspired by her life in America (which she will co-produce with Priyanka Chopra) and the production of an upcoming Marathi film. Slated to release on Netflix this year, 15th August is a slice-of-life entertainer that unfolds over a day as the residents of a chawl gear up for the flag-hoisting ceremony. “It is about how love sets us free,” says Dixit. We’ll have to wait and see as to how successful Madhuri Dixit will turn out to be as a Producer.