Madhuri Dixit: The queen of dance and expressions — Flashback

This week on Flashback, we take a look at the journey of Madhuri Dixit, born on 15th May 1967 in a Maharashtrian family to Shankar and Snehlata Dixit. She was extremely fond of dancing and started learning Kathak at a very young age and later went on to become a trained Kathak dance. As she grew up, Madhuri Dixit had no intentions of joining films but destiny had some other plans for her. Rajshri were starting a new film of their production house and were looking for a young innocent face for their new venture. They approached Madhuri Dixit's parents for their permission but her parents refused as Madhuri's parents wanted her to pursue her education but on insistence, her parents changed their mind and couple of screen test later, Madhuri made her acting debut with Abodh opposite the Bengali actor, Tapas Paul. The film failed to do well but Madhuri Dixit performance as a young naïve village bride won her the critical acclaim. Unfortunately, her successive films like AwaraBaap,Swati, Manav Hatya, Mohre, Hifazat And khatron ke khiladi failed to create the magic on the silverscreen.

The series of consecutive flops almost broke her spirit. Disheartened, she went to the US for a holiday to be with her family after completing the shoot of N. Chandra’s Tezaab opposite Anil Kapoo but when she returned, little did she knew that she had already become a star!

Tezaab turned Madhuri Dixit into an overnight sensation! Her performance as Mohini, her breathtaking dance moves, and her most memorable dance earned her the nickname "Ek Do Teen Girl"! The film went on to become that year's highest grossing movie. Tezaab was beginning of her several successful collaborations with Anil Kapoor, Saroj Khan, and Subhash Ghai. In fact Ghai gave Madhuri a small dance sequence in his film Karma, but it was chopped off at the editing table. Ghai promised a bigger role to Madhuri if she stopped doing bit roles. He kept his promise and offered her a role in Uttar Dakshin and later, gave her a huge break with Ram Lakhan in 1988. The success of Ram Lakhan came right after she struck gold with N Chandra's Tezaab, and Madhuri became a star.

Madhuri Dixit’s box-office power was indestructible. She’s had a long list of memorable songs, movie moments, award nominations and award wins. Shei has won six Filmfare Awards and is said to be the only actress in Bollywood with the most Filmfare award nominations, with the count totaling to 13. She is a part of a movie legacy. A star who has set the screen on fire with her breathtaking performances and yes, her billion dollar smile!

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