It's wonderful to live in a
heart-shaped world. Madhuri Nene, nee Dixit would agree. "I'm off to Los Angeles.
It's Ram's birthday on Februrary 12," she trills. 
She radiates an open friendly vibe. There's none of that tentativeness that generally underscores her personality. I have so many questions to ask. But she has a billion things chalked up in her itinerary. "You sit with me, while I make a million calls." She rattles off a trillion instructions to her cook and driver. Mumsie Snehalata potters around the kitchen while father Shankar's perusing important documents.
Just then the phone rings again. Ram's on line. She excuses herself. I overhear a Manhattan twang to her sweet-nothings. Ah, bliss!
First things first. Why the hush-hush
marriage on October 17, 1999? Smiling that basra pearly smile, she intones, "You know
me, I've always been a private person. Marriage to me, is a very private affair. And
didn't I host a reception on December 
18, for
all those who mattered to me? So there."
But wasn't Anil Kapoor miffed that
Sanjay Leela Bhansali was informed even before he was? " Ha," she retorts.
"I informed Sanjay only because I'm supposed to do Devdas with him. You know how the
industry gets into a panic about an actress getting married."
So is she finally doing Devdas? "Ummm,
we still have to work out the details. I can't say anything right now." What about
Subhash Ghai's statement that Madhuri never mentions him in her interviews? "
Oof," she snorts, "I don't even want to react to such an immature statement.
Next question please."
So we are back to life being a wed of roses
and all zat. Straightening herself on the sofa, she exclaims, "You're damned if you
do, you're damned if you don't! For years now, everyone's been getting me married. Now,
when I'm really married, why the scepticism?"
A whoosh and crackling sound emerge from the kitchen. Within minutes, hot piping batata poha materialises. We gorge away happily. And she sallies again," Arre, if I hadn't announced my marriage. Not a soul would have known. Did any one know about my engagement either? I was proud of the fact that I got married and announced it to the world. What's the big deal about getting married and hiding it from everyone? Aur aisa bhi nahin ki film-makers will get scared and run away. Those who want to sign me will come anyways."
Madhuri avers that for a while hers will be a long-distance marriage. "But I'll runf away to the States every time I feel like it. And that's going to be often." She laughs that laugh of hers yet again.
Madhuri
informs me that hubbie dearest will now pursue his Masters in Cardio Thorasic. Right now,
he's doing his internship and while being on hospital duty will also teach medical
undergrads. It's a little difficult for me to digest that Shriram wasn't aware of his
wife's celebrity status before marrying her?
"Arre, but he wasn't. He lived in London till he was 6 years old, after which his entire family migrated to America. So they are not the regular NRI Indian family who have ODed on Hindi films. Believe it or faint, but Amar Akbar Anthony is the only Hindi film he's ever seen. (Laughs)And he didn't know what was going on. He couldn't understand a thing. While he speaks good accented Marathi, the only Hindi he knows is `Idhar jao, udhar jao.'
That's the directions he gives to the cabbies when he's in India. (Laughs)I'll have to teach him Hindi first. Then I'll get him to see my films like Beta, Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! and Mrityudand" She segues into a more serious mode and mentions. "I'm glad Ram didn't know anything about my celebrity status. And it didn't matter to him. It's like me meeting a Chinese actor. I wouldn't know the extent of his popularity. So when we met it was like two ordinary individuals were meeting each other the first time. No strings attached. Of course, my brother Ajit knew Shriram and his family very well."
She adds, "Earlier, whenever my sisters would introduce me to prospective grooms, I could sense that they were in awe of me. Their throats would be parched. The conversations would be quite garbled. But when I met Ram, something told me that we'd click. We laugh so much together. By the way, Ram's got a terrific sense of humour."
So how did his seniors in the hospital react to his new-found status? To that query Madhuri just guffaws. And that tinkling laughter covers the room like an invisible blanket. But she does tell me that Ramji was quite at sea interacting with the ocean of star personalities at her reception. "Poor, thing he was in such a daze. He couldn't tell one from the other. He just kept smiling through it all."
But, but but. I'm still not convinced
how she agreed to marry a complete stranger. "Huh, are you okay?", she asks
me." It's not as if, I saw his photograph and agreed to get married to him. That only
happens in the movies. I met Ram several times before I got married. Know something? The
first time I met him, I knew this was it. I was actually looking forward to our next
meeting. In any case, what guarantee or statistics do you have to prove that love
marriages work better?
We yak non-stop to bridge the awkward
silences in the conversation. Something that Madhuri's never done before. And then she
tells me." It's so strange but all my dialogue in Dil To Pagal Hai have come true.
Today that film seems like an extension of my life. Like Pooja, I also feel that bhagwan
ne hamen jodiyon mein banaya hai. I waited and finally found the right person."
Real life indeed imitates reel life. So as an icon of popular entertainment, would she advocate arranged marriages? "Of course, why not?" she asks. "If I have been a role model to certain girls, all I'd like to say is that one must try and live life on one's own terms. Never succumb to peer pressure. And no age is a right or wrong age. Everything's in the mind. If you're strong, you can conquer the world."
The phone trings. And the heart-breaker sashays off. To answer someone, who's just a heart beat away.