Madhuri – the dazzling damsel!

She is the reigning queen and the `dhak-dhak girl`of the bollywood.

Preeti Panwar

She came, she saw & she conquered! She was the reigning queen of the Indian film industry for years and hailed as the original ‘dhak-dhak girl` of Bollywood. The lady is none other than ‘Madhuri Dixit’, who has the knack of winning hearts through her beautiful smile and amazing dance moves. Madhuri made her debut in Bollywood in 1984 with the not- so-famous film ‘Abodh’. She didn’t look back after that and went on to give many brilliant performances and back-to-back hits. She literally ruled the box office in the 80s and 90s era. And the reason for this was her dedication and hard work. Madhuri wanted to become a micro-biologist but destiny had different plans for her. When she made her debut in Bollywood, she had no filmy background and no god-father. But she managed to carve a niche for herself in the industry. She also modeled at times during her struggle period. Madhuri turned her dream into reality by sheer hard work, talent, honesty and not to forget her fantabulous dancing skills. A trained Kathak dancer, Madhuri has amazing dancing skills, which have been appreciated by ace filmmakers and her millions of fans across the nation. Madhuri gave a mind-blowing and magical performance with the ace dancer Prabhudeva in the song ‘Kay Sera Sera’ (Pukar) in 2000. In 2002, Madhuri starred in ‘Devdas’, in which she played the role of the good-hearted courtesan ‘Chandramukhi’. But what stood out in the film was her item song ‘Maar Dala’, which gained popularity owing to her classical dance moves. Director Chandan Arora paid a tribute to her through the film, ‘Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon’, which was produced by Ram Gopal Verma in 2003. Actress Antara Mali played the protagonist, who is a fan of Madhuri Dixit and wants to follow her idol’s footsteps. Although, the film was a box office dud but it managed to get positive reviews from critics and was widely appreciated by Madhuri’s fans. Even the famous Indian artist and globally renowned painter, M F Hussain could not resist from capturing the talent and beauty of Madhuri Dixit in his paintings. He was so enamored by his muse that he went on to make a movie on her named ‘Gaja Gamini’. In this movie, Madhuri pays a tribute to womanhood. Madhuri has received many awards and recognition for the roles she has played so far. She was awarded with the prestigious ‘Padma Shri’ for her outstanding contribution in the Indian cinema by President Pratibha Singh Patil. On receiving the award, Madhuri said, “Padmashri is a culmination of my hard work and honesty.” Whenever I think of Madhuri, her mesmerizing smile and her gorgeous curly hair appear in front of my eyes. I still remember when ‘Hum Aapke Hain Kaun’ was released in 1994, I was in school at that time. That was the time when I noticed the gorgeous beauty. It is the film, which broke box office records across all the theatres and did roaring business of Rs 650 million in India and got over Rs 15 million in collections abroad. Although the dancing diva is happily settled in the US with her husband Shriram Nene, two sons and in-laws, people in India are still fond of her films. She was welcomed with open arms in her comeback film ‘Aaja Nachle’ and even though the film did not do so well financially, everyone lauded her performance. The lady still gets loads of offers from filmmakers and will remain a darling of the masses. (It is Madhuri Dixit’s birthday on May 15)