Baby, One More Time

                                                                                                                  Heart tu tu with Madhuri Dixit

As the beats of Hum ko aaj kal hai intezaar (Sailaab) pounds out of an Akai system, Ms Madhuri Dixit pumps up the volume. I'd truly walk yards, miles, mountain tops to watch her dance. With the grace of a ballerina, she executes the dance steps. Her body bustle, the sinuous limb movements enhance the eroticism and energy of the rumbustious dance.

She's rehearsing for a charity show for the make-up artistes' association. Her scrupulously scrubbed face glistens with sweat after a hard day's work.

MD's real life, too, has been similar to that of the good girl next door. She's single, lives with her parents, is a working girl, and, guess what, she even does the dishes at home (sometimes). Then one fine day, she'll up and walk into the sunset with her technicolour knight.

Think of Madhuri Dixit as a happy ending. Think of someone who, after all the toil and trouble, heartache and pain, comes to your rescue. The woman who'll hold you close until all the world fades away.

The Interview

So how different is Gaja Gamini from all the films you've done up to now?

The language of the film is different. It's up to the audience to interpret it. I hope I don't sound like the film's PRO, but it's like a painting on celluloid. Each frame of Gaja Gamini is a work of art.

It's not a commercial film in the true sense. We don't know how well it will do at the box office. It's like an art house product.

How different is your romance with Shah Rukh Khan in Gaja Gamini from, say, Dil To Pagal Hai?

There's one scene between Shah Rukh and me which is almost esoteric. We talk about a woman waiting for her lover in a quaint restaurant in Paris.

Oh, yes, it's definitely very different from Dil To Pagal Hai. (Laughs) We don't romance with girls and boys in leotards and body-tights in the background.

What was it like playing four or five different characters in Gaja Gamini?

I play a character straight out of mythology and I even play a new-age woman called Monica. I realised that whether she's a pre-historic woman or a post-90s woman, her pain, her passions, her problems are pretty much the same.  If she was a victim of feudal exploitation in one era, her progressiveness and freedom in this nuclear age brings with it it's own problems. All said, suffered and understood, a woman is a woman is a woman. (Smiles) Like men will always be men.

You've always told me it's an esoteric film.

Yup, after acting in it, I actually realised what the film was all about. When Husain sa'ab first narrated the film to me, I couldn't understand a word. Only when he story-boarded the script complete with drawings did I get a hang of it.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali apparently scripts all his films with you in mind.

That's nice of him. Directors like him, Aditya Chopra and Sooraj Barjatya live movies. They put their all into their movies. The best thing about their films is that their core is so Indian.

Would you like to continue acting for a long, long time?

I'd love to. Acting comes as naturally as breathing to me. But the right scripts aren't coming my way. Every day I turn down faltu subjects. I'm yet to get something that really charges me up.

I see you directing films like Aparna Sen some day.

Well, thanks. I'd really love to direct. But I'm not technically proficient. I really have to learn the craft. For the moment, let me get on with my act in front of the camera.

Come, come you're being modest.

No seriously, I mean it. 

After so many years in the business, how do you react to compliments like, "You're so beautiful". Does that make you vain?

Vanity irritates me. This business about looking good before the camera makes me antsy sometimes. But then I
remind myself that I'm paid to act and look presentable. You can't goof with work. As for compliments, I don't
know how to react to them. They still faze me.

Is acting still top priority?

Yes it is. In any case, I'm only capable of doing one thing at a time. Which is why even when I'm on the sets,
I can't read a book. I'm too consumed about the shot for the day.  (Laughs) I'm only passionate about doing crosswords on the sets. That, too, ith pipsqueaks like you trying to take them over. Ha!

Are you wiser today?

Excuse me, I was always wise. Maybe the years, the experience, the emotions I've gone through have made me stronger.  But I've learnt one thing. My professional life and my personal life will never overlap. I have a life beyond the movies. When I'm at home, I try to switch-off totally. It's not always possible. But I've learnt to create a wall around me. That's my private space. No one trespasses there.

Is there any advice that you'd give to a young woman on the threshold of a career?

That you must have your priorities crystal clear. If you want to be a career woman, give it your best shot. If you want to marry and have kids early in life, go right ahead. I'm also amazed at women can straddle a career and a family beautifully.

Have you played agony aunt to others?

Yup, I'm a good listener. Fans don't come to me and open their hearts out because the moments spent with them are very fleeting. Also, there is a sense of awe on their side because I'm a star. I have a cousin who wanted to join the movies. I took her on the sets one day. When she saw all the grime and the hard work involved in making films, she did a quick rethink. (Laughs) She opted for another career. I tell everyone that films are, believe it or not, a lot of hard work. Okay, you get paid loads of money and there's the glamour. But that's just one side of the coin. Most importantly, you have to be tough, real tough. There are the pressures, the see-saw changes and extreme career graphs, plus the constant media monitoring and butchering.

So how have you coped?

This industry has a way of toughening you up. But my family has given me my inner strength, my basic core is solid thanks to them. What gets my goat though are the unfair lies written about me. Misreporting irks me. It's sickening. Imagine, they linked me with Rikku. They couldn't stoop any lower.

Did any of your friends or co-stars try to cross-check the Rikku rumours?

None, actually. Those who know me, don't need to cross-check such rumours. (Guffaws) And my co-stars wouldn't dare ask me to clarify anything. Mujhse panga kaun lega? I've come to the conclusion that there are good people and there are bad people. The bad people only want to believe the worst about you.

Any other corny rumours you've heard about yourself?

There are too many. I've been through the entire grind. Recently I was told that some magazine's carrying a story about my having had a face-lift. First they said I had undergone surgery to get my mouth and teeth corrected. Then it was ghus-pussed that I had a nose-job done. Can you believe that?

Seriously, I'm past caring. Gossip just doesn't affect me.