March 2, 1998

After nearly two years of successive flops and press obits, Madhuri has returned to the top

By Anupama Chopra

Madhuri Dixit and I are standing on the balcony of Mumbai's ancient Royal Opera House Theater. The journalist and the mega-ton star. In the seven-some minutes that Madhuri, understated in a pink chiffon sari and pearls, flashes her famous lopsided smile for a photographer, rush-hour traffic at the busy Opera House junction comes to a halt. Urchins clamber on the compound wall for a better view, a truck driver waves, an old Parsi matron leans out of her apartment window, pedestrians stop to stare. "How did they know I'm here," she wonders. "Shaayad," says her hairdresser Sonal, "aapki khushboo aa gayee (Perhaps they got a whiff of your presence)."

It is the smell of success. Last month, Madhuri walked away with Bollywood's top honours. First, the Screen Videocon Best Actress Award for Mrityudand. Then, the Filmfare Best Actress Award for Dil To Pagal Hai (DTPH), a candy-floss romance which had her playing a young girl mooning for love. Despite tepid reviews, DTPH raked in astounding box-office collections -- the Mumbai territory alone is expected to fetch over Rs 6 crore. And a vindicated Madhuri dedicated her Filmfare Award to critics who had been politely hinting at retirement. "This," she said, holding up the statuette, "is popular opinion." Indeed. After nearly two years of flops and harsh reviews, Madhuri is back.

And she's never looked better. Daily workouts have taken care of excess flab. The ingenue's elfin charm has matured into an elegant beauty. Fourteen years in the industry have honed her craft to perfection. Her instincts are fine-tuned as are her performances. "Today, I understand and evaluate my characters better," she says. "I understand life better . That has given my performances an edge." The sudden downswing through 1996 and much of 1997, and the ensuing obits in the film press have pierced the seemingly invulnerable public face. "The press was unnecessarily harsh," she says, "Perhaps they just got tired of praising me." But the actress who laboured her way to No. 1 has bounced back big. She's at the top and in control. Her career strategy has evolved along with her talent. Once she used to scramble between studios doing double shifts; now she no longer works on Sundays and has reduced her workload to four films a year. She wants to keep dates available for good roles that suddenly materialise. She is also, wisely, looking for roles that move beyond her much-exploited dancing prowess. "I want roles that are different, that have body and meat. I can't live without dancing but I want to find a balance between the two."

So Raj Kumar Santoshi's Pukar has her playing a heroine with shades of gray and N. Chandra's Wajood casts her opposite a mentally unhinged Nana Patekar as a brave TV journalist. With Engineer, a trilingual, she dips into uncharted waters -- she's taking Tamil tuitions -- and in K.C. Bokadia's Aap Mere Hain Sanam, she's a housewife suspected of infidelity. Prakash Jha, her director in Mrityudand, is scripting another Madhuri vehicle, as is Santoshi who says that "Madhuri has become a weakness" after just one film together. "There are very few actors who can surprise me," he says, "but she was so brilliant even I was mesmerised. I'm thinking of a Nargis- or Madhubala-type script with her." She is open, she insists, to non-mainstream projects. "I'd love to work with Govind Nihalani, Shyam Benegal, Gulzar but nothing's worked out so far."

The problem is that "meaty" roles are scarce. In a hero-dominated Bollywood, heroine-oriented scripts are rarely written. And by the film industry's youth-obsessed standards, Madhuri, barely 30, has already moved into the "mature woman" category. Industry double standards allowed Vinod Khanna to work with a much younger Madhuri in Dayavaan in the late '80s but eyebrows were raised when Madhuri was recently paired with Khanna jr., Akshaye, in Mohabbat. Competition is also nipping at Madhuri's heels. With Karisma Kapoor, Manisha Koirala and Kajol establishing reputations as serious actresses, Madhuri is no longer the automatic choice for a demanding role. Worse, Bollywood conventional wisdom has it that heroines matter marginally when fixing a film's sale price. With a rumoured Rs 75 lakh-Rs 80 lakh price tag, Madhuri is one of Bollywood's most expensive actresses (her secretary denies this but the grapevine says she charged Rs 2 crore for Engineer). Producers, therefore, sometimes go for cheaper options. In the face of the odds though, Madhuri is characteristically calm. "The competition has always been there. But it's not like we are in a race, running towards a finishing line. There is no finishing line. You just keep striving and there will always be more space to run."

One option is to create the space yourself. In Hollywood, leading actresses like Michelle Pfeiffer, Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon and Sandra Bullock have their own production companies or are executive producers on films they are starring in. Some Bollywood heroes, Anil Kapoor and Aamir Khan among others, are often involved in pushing film projects, sourcing financiers, scripting and even production. Bollywood actresses, however, have traditionally avoided this. Madhuri is the only actress ever to be tagged "the female Bachchan" but the clout she wields is rarely seen. "I'd love to be in those shoes," she says wistfully, "where I can dictate what I want. I suppose I could do it even now if I put my mind to it. But when you are so busy, you stop making that extra effort." Kapoor, one of Madhuri's first heroes, suggests a total image transformation. "Don't play safe," he says. "The audience today is willing to accept different things." Writer Honey Irani concurs: "Madhuri must move away from the college-girl-type romantic roles, not because she can't do them but because everybody has seen that already. It's for actors and actresses to take on different and challenging roles. The ball is firmly in her court."

A little recklessness is required, perhaps in the private sphere as well. Over the years, the film media has consistently gossiped about prospective NRI grooms and Madhuri has equally consistently refused to comment. There have been stray hints of scandal (Sanjay Dutt in the pre-TADA days) but these have been quelled quickly. "My personal life is my business," she says. "Do you have a boyfriend?" is met with a swift, "None of your business," but she will say that Mr Right hasn't materialised yet.

Career then, is Madhuri's passion. With her striking beauty, consummate talent and award-heavy shelves -- four Filmfare and three Screen awards at last count -- she is assured a place in the history books. "I want to be remembered as a lady who walked tall," she says. She already is.

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