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| Madhuri Dixit by Dabboo Ratnani |
As she leans back for the hypodermic needle to permeate her every crack and crevice with age-defying, cosmetic toxins, the numbing words echolocate beyond Hollywood to Bollywood, and back.
The Indian film industry has no idea what to do with actresses of a certain age, certainly not with Madhuri Dixit, 46. The Indian actress, famed for her enduring beauty and dancing skills, has often played the pirouetting babe in designer bustiers. She has essayed the role of avenging housewife, constable, courtesan, princess and lawyer, among a host of others, in a resplendent film career marked with box-office success, accolades and awards. She now finds her cinematic options (Dixit has appeared in nearly 90 Hindi movies) reduced to a handful of prospective films. Post-marriage and motherhood, and despite her remarkable pedigree, ability and agility, Dixit is left wanting.
“I would ask screenwriters to please come up with strong scripts for actresses like me, where there’s more to the role, where we can play women of substance. I’m always looking for the right script,” she says at a press conference for Gulaab Gang (A Gang of Roses), her forthcoming film due for release later this year. “The conviction of the director, Soumik Sen, and the movie’s producer, Anubhav Sinha, made me sign up for the film. It’s such a lovely script that says a lot about empowering women – but in an entertaining way. It’s not a preachy film, but it shows how education and awareness can change one’s life, no matter what your status is in society. And the other thing that appealed to me is that there are a lot of women in this movie, be it the supporting cast, the protagonist or even the antagonist, it’s all women.”
Dixit is a fine example of the empowered Indian woman. She spent nearly two decades in Hindi films, rising through the ranks from supporting actress to queen of the marquee. She started out in largely forgettable flicks, but her prowess for song and dance – an essential ingredient in currying Indian cinematic favour – ignited her career. Step by step, she caught the eye of directors and choreographers, who shone a spotlight on this remarkable danseuse. For the thousands who attended the 14th International Indian Film Academy Awards in Macau earlier this year [2014] or the millions who saw the show telecast around the globe, Dixit’s closing number brought the house down.
It’s difficult to avoid hyperbole when describing this noteworthy actress who has a wax replica in Madame Tussauds (the only other sari-draped star being, of course, Aishwarya Rai). Her co-stars gush about her, as do her directors, but at the peak of her fame in 1999 Dixit hoodwinked the paparazzi, married cardiothoracic surgeon Shriram Nene and moved to Denver, Colorado. Not a single snap of the wedding of the most eligible girl in a nation of a billion leaked into the gobsmacked tabloids. She had two sons in the US and mostly kept mum. She kept an ear out for roles suitable not only for her age and grace, but also for her calibre.
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| Madhuri Dixit-Nene in Aaja Nachle |
In 2007, Dixit tested the waters with Aaja Nachle (Come Dance) to find out if audiences were ready to welcome her back. The film, burdened with a flawed script, unbankable male leads and bad timing (action films were the rage and this musical was ill-fated from the get-go), tanked. And yet the leading lady garnered glowing reviews. From The New York Times for example, “Ms Dixit reminds us that whatever ‘it’ is, she’s still got it. Now stories will have to be found that can show it off…Hindi cinema will have to figure out what kind of heroine a middle-aged woman can be.”
That was five years ago, and following the project’s box-office failure Dixit moved on without a whimper, appearing in reality TV talent shows as a well-paid judge and starring in lucrative advertising campaigns (age-defying creams, household products and toothpaste ads), again playing to her strengths as a ridiculously good-looking housewife with untold talent.
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| Madhuri Dixit hits the stage at The Veneitan Macao, Picture by Forbes Conrad |
Earlier this year she signalled a return to the big screen by signing for a new-age Hindi film. As the curtains rise, Dixit will have to live up to certain benchmarks – that of her own oeuvre of wildly successful movies, as well as the box-office receipts she has to face, like any of her contemporaries.
Introducing her modest-budget flick Gulaab Gang, Dixit sits before me in a sparkling sari, her petite Madonna-sized frame unblemished by any sign of age, her voice resonating with a calm maturity. “It is an exciting time to be a part of the Indian film industry. There are all kinds of roles being offered to actresses. I think the industry has changed a lot since the 1980s and ’90s, when I first started. Either you played the victim or the vigilante, there was no middle ground. Now there’s definitely a variety…but the roles are infrequent.”
Infrequent is putting it mildly. With an endless parade of young beauty queens entering Bollywood each year, mature actresses are relegated to the sidelines while actors keep themselves busy cavorting with their increasingly younger co-stars. All the current leading actors in Hindi films are in their late 40s, while Amitabh Bachchan, at 72, shows no signs of slowing down. Being a leading lady is tough enough in La La land, (just ask Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock or Meg Ryan) but in the ageist, sexist, nepotistic clique of Indian cinema, it’s tougher still.
As she speaks about her role in her upcoming film, she says with neither anxiety nor fear of box-office fate, “My character leads the way for many women in a rural setting. She asks women to not be a victim to their circumstances. There are many unheard stories of women enduring that go untold. In a small way, this shows some unsung heroes; it is my salute to them.”
Many moments endure while reflecting on an encounter with Mumbai’s favourite citizen, including a prophetic one. As Dixit was asked to address the media, she rose from her seat and walked up to the stage. As she made her way to the dais, the embroidered frill of her glistering sari wrapped around her foot and she tripped on the stairs. With that trademark grace, she caught herself, rose to the occasion and smiled without a hint of mortification as the audience gasped.
And quick to the quip: “I think it’s good to stumble once in a while, it gives you a lot of strength,” she said with that iconic smile of hers. “It allows you the grace to get up and rise again.”
See earlier post on Sridevi here.
See earlier post on Amitabh Bachchan here.
See several posts on Shahrukh Khan here.
See earlier post on Hrithik Roshan here!
Left: My brief, freelancer bio in Prestige magazine - before I joined the magazine!
P. Ramakrishnan has been a journalist and editor in Hong Kong for the past decade and takes more than a causal interest in the magic and mayhem of Mumbai cinema. Bollywood's global reach is undeniable, as is its sustaining power that engenders billions in revenue. he interviews one of the genre's undisputed queens, Madhuri Dixit ("A Certain Age", page 300).
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