November 13th, 2000, 04:40 PM
Is Madhuri Dixit playing a double role in real life? It seems like it. Judging from the different views that different people have of her, it almost seems as if there are two Madhuris. And we're not talking about Madhuri Dixit versus Madhuri Nene. Marriage may have changed her surname, but it doesn't seem to have changed her attitude. No, the problem goes deeper than that. The question really should be: Is Madhuri genuinely the screen goddess that she appears to be? Or is she a real-life vamp?
The most recent controversy that exploded in her face is the Saroj Khan-Gaja Gamini issue. Apparently, India's most famous dance director is maha-mad with Madhuri. That's a pity because until recently, Saroj Khan was maha-mad about Madhuri! In fact, Saroj Khan is one of the key pillars in the towering edifice of Madhuri's career. Remember the old but gold Ek do teen dance number from Tezaab? Of course you do. If it wasn't for that song, you wouldn't remember Madhuri today!
Until Tezaab and Saroj Khan's controversial choreography for that now-legendary song, Madhuri was just another pretty face among dozens of prettier faces. Remember the film Aabodh? Or Uttar Dakshin? Or any one of the half a dozen other forgettable flops? Why should you. They didn't make any impression on the box - office or the fans and neither did Madhuri at that time.
It took a director like N. Chandra, a star like Anil Kapoor, a song like Ek do teen and most of all, a dance ustaad like Saroj Khan to bring out the star-quality in Madhuri. Whatever her acting abilities, it was the way she moved on the dance floor that first gained her fame. The swaying of her ample hips drove fans crazy and had the cash registers ringing around the clock with repeat viewings. There's no question that she began counting her blessings with Ek do teen.
For years after Tezaab, Madhuri and Saroj Khan seemed inseparable. Their destinies intertwined, they rose together on a single,luminous cloud to greater heights of success year after year. On the sets, their camaraderie was considered rare and precious. You can't begin to count the number of interviews in which each praised the other. Or the number of times that veteran Saroj Khan recommended the upcoming young actress to every producer in sight, and vice versa. put all that seems to have changed. For the worse.
According to word in tinseltown, Saroj is fuming over the fact that she hasn't been credited for her choreography in Madhuri's long-awaited Gaja Gamini. If you recall, that's the arty film 'created' by maha-fida artist Hussain as a screen expression to his Madhuri-obsession. While the film isn't expected to have a strong commercial future, it's certainly an event that the media and filmlovers have been curious to see.
After all, once a star gains commercial success, the hunger for critical acclaim starts to show itself. Taking a cue from 'crossover' actresses like Tabu, Raveena and the suddenly experimental Karisma, Madhuri probably hoped that Gaja Gamini would raise her image as an actress of substance.
But first there were rumours that the film's release had been delayed indefinitely by Madhuri herself. Why would she do that, you ask? Well, if the rumours are to be believed, it's because she suddenly met with a string of flops, ending with the bitterly disappointing fate of Pukar, a film she had poured her heart and soul into without any results. She needed a hit badly, and releasing a Gaja Gamini now might have been the worst thing for her career. So, according to sources close to her, she used stalling tactics to delay the launch, upsetting her 'No. 1 fan' Hussain in the process.
But it still doesn't explain the Saroj Khan snub. What possible reason could there be for the danseuse not getting credit for her work in the film? One camp claims that Madhuri's secretary-turned-producer Rikku (Rakeshnath) is to blame. But as anyone who knows Madhuri, knows very well that Rikku wouldn't even breathe without Madhuri's permission. And even if someone else was responsible for dropping Saroj's name from the film credits, Madhuri certainly has the clout to get it included again. So why won't she do that much at least for an old, dear friend, and a mentor who was directly responsible for her early success? Your guess is as good as our's.
But that's only the tip of the iceberg. Like the giant glacier on which she danced in sub-zero temperatures for that glorious song sequence in Pukar, Madhuri herself seems to have turned her warmth down to near freezing levels of late. Saroj Khan is only one of the many Madhuri "campwallahs" who are upset with her today.
ake Anil Kapoor, for instance. As her co-star in Tezaab, his fortunes were twined with her's just as closely as Saroj Khan's. In fact, he's said to have recommended her so often and so passionately to producers, that they began to wonder if they were actually siblings separated at birth! Their hits together could have formed a filmography that would match any modern superstar screen couple. The magic showed clearly in Ram Lakhan, where even director Subhash Ghai, notorious for being stingy with his compliments, openly praised their jodi and predicted a great future for them as a screen pair.
But today, you'll rarely even hear Anil Kapoor mention Madhuri's name, let alone recommend her. Not that he needs to, of course. But even at her wedding, he only put in a brief appearance and left almost immediately. That was definitely not what you'd expect from an old and dear friend and professional associate.
Again, the sources close to Madhuri claim that Anil was upset at the way she shut him out in the last few years. After the phenomenal success of Dil To Pagal Hai, her attitude to her longtime co-star is said to have changed drastically. And when the time came for her wedding, he was kept as much in the dark as anyone else. Not exactly the way an old friend would expect to be treated!
Perhaps Madhuri was secretly resentful of the fact that Anil had never taken her in one of his home productions, despite their warm professional relationship? She was said to have seethed silently as Sridevi scored big-time in brother Boney's big hits like Mr India and even bigger attempts like Roop Ki Raani Choron Ka Raja. Anil could hardly do anything about that.
Afer all, brother Boney's fascination for Sridevi was no secret even before he finally divorced his wife and married the dusky Southern beauty. But if the sources are correct, Madhuri was irate enough about her exclusion from the Surindar Kapoor-Boney Kapoor production camp to steadily distance herself from brother Anil. A petty form of behaviour and unfair to an old and loyal associate.
hen there's the Sanjay Dutt story. A typical filmi love story, complete with tragic ending. Picture two young passionate co-stars. Brought together in a film that became an overnight romantic classic: Saajan. The romance that began onscreen in that tear jerking heartbreaker continued off screen through a series of liaisons that were said to be heading for only one possible goal - marriage. Sanjay himself made no secret of the fact that he was mad about Madhuri and she didn't deny it hotly either.
At the shooting of their film, Mahaanta, in a Dadar chawl, the two couldn't wait to 'get together' in Madhuri's vanity van for a spot of intimacy!
By the time they starred in Khalnayak, the two were said to be inseparable. Comparisons were being made to Raj Kapoor and Nargis, Dharam and Hema. Sadly, the relationship was doomed to suffer the fate of that first screen couple, not the second. When Sanjay Dutt was arrested under TADA and imprisoned, Madhuri was said to be shaken to the core. Like any image-conscious superstar, she was ultra-anxious about bad publicity. And Sanjay was getting the worst kind of publicity imaginable. At the time, it seemed hopeless for him. People were predicting that he would either commit suicide in jail or his career would commit suicide out of jail.
Madhuri's overnight severing of all bonds with Sanjay might seem practical, even inevitable as a co-star. But as a lover and all-but-fiancee, it was a betrayal of the worst kind. Sanjay, still reeling from the tragedy of his first doomed marriage and staggered by the crushing punitive action taken against him for relatively minor infractions, was said to be broken by her betrayal. Some say he still hasn't got over it.
After the breakup with Sanjay-or betrayal, whichever you prefer-Madhuri seemed to become even more remote and distant than before. Always known for her legendary "ice-queen" aloofness, she began to change in ways that any student of superstardom would recognize. Mumbai MLC Pramod Navalkar was heard complaining loudly that he had tried repeatedly to get her to attend a major charity function. He wouldn't have minded if she had refused on account of a busy schedule, but he's said to have resented the fact that she wouldn't even return his calls!
anjay Leela Bhansali, now riding high in filmdom after the phenomenal success of Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, had his own story of woe. Apparently, back in the pre-Khamoshi days when he was still an unknown entity, just one of a thousand other wannabes, he had tried repeatedly to meet Madhuri and narrate the script of Khamoshi to her. According to a source close to Bhansali, he was repeatedly kept waiting by Madhuri, until finally she's said to have slammed the door of her make-up room in his face. No wonder he tried his luck elsewhere and fared much better with Manisha Koirala, who turned in a brilliant performance-even though the role was actually written with Madhuri in mind.
Now,the same Madhuri has signed on to star in Devdas, directed by the same Sanjay Leela Bhansali. What made her accessible? Obviously, Bhansali's success. The young director is said to be philosophical about her change-of-heart. He claimed to have dreamed of working with her from way back. But even now, his path to filming with her seems to be fraught with problems: Word is that Madhuri might be pregnant. Which means that if it's true, Devdas will just have to wait. Along with all her other commitments and producers.
This last alleged occurrence is a perfect example of Madhuri's other side. As with her marriage, her rumoured pregnancy came as a sudden shock to her co-stars and producers. While nobody can deny her right to have a family, the least the industry expected was a little fair warning. After all, it's films that gave her the wealth and fame that allows her to enjoy her life, including being a contented mother.
Surely she could treat the same industry with a little more respect and consideration? If not by planning her marriage and pregnancy with more foresight, but at least by informing her colleagues of her plans? But according to some, she told nobody about these sudden, life-changing decisions until they were fait accompli, costing producers millions of rupees in lost time and creating havoc with the schedules of co-stars.
Even Subhash Ghai, the mentor who did as much for her career as Saroj Khan and Anil Kapoor, openly revealed his cooling off towards Madhuri in her later, prima donna phase. After raising her star-value immeasurably with superhits like Ram Lakhan and Khalnayak, he might have expected more from her.
But, like so many others, he made the mistake of believing that she was truly the screen goddess of her media image. Whereas she actually seemed to have more in common with a screen vamp
[Edited by gogogirl on 11-13-2000 at 07:44 PM]
The most recent controversy that exploded in her face is the Saroj Khan-Gaja Gamini issue. Apparently, India's most famous dance director is maha-mad with Madhuri. That's a pity because until recently, Saroj Khan was maha-mad about Madhuri! In fact, Saroj Khan is one of the key pillars in the towering edifice of Madhuri's career. Remember the old but gold Ek do teen dance number from Tezaab? Of course you do. If it wasn't for that song, you wouldn't remember Madhuri today!
Until Tezaab and Saroj Khan's controversial choreography for that now-legendary song, Madhuri was just another pretty face among dozens of prettier faces. Remember the film Aabodh? Or Uttar Dakshin? Or any one of the half a dozen other forgettable flops? Why should you. They didn't make any impression on the box - office or the fans and neither did Madhuri at that time.
It took a director like N. Chandra, a star like Anil Kapoor, a song like Ek do teen and most of all, a dance ustaad like Saroj Khan to bring out the star-quality in Madhuri. Whatever her acting abilities, it was the way she moved on the dance floor that first gained her fame. The swaying of her ample hips drove fans crazy and had the cash registers ringing around the clock with repeat viewings. There's no question that she began counting her blessings with Ek do teen.
For years after Tezaab, Madhuri and Saroj Khan seemed inseparable. Their destinies intertwined, they rose together on a single,luminous cloud to greater heights of success year after year. On the sets, their camaraderie was considered rare and precious. You can't begin to count the number of interviews in which each praised the other. Or the number of times that veteran Saroj Khan recommended the upcoming young actress to every producer in sight, and vice versa. put all that seems to have changed. For the worse.
According to word in tinseltown, Saroj is fuming over the fact that she hasn't been credited for her choreography in Madhuri's long-awaited Gaja Gamini. If you recall, that's the arty film 'created' by maha-fida artist Hussain as a screen expression to his Madhuri-obsession. While the film isn't expected to have a strong commercial future, it's certainly an event that the media and filmlovers have been curious to see.
After all, once a star gains commercial success, the hunger for critical acclaim starts to show itself. Taking a cue from 'crossover' actresses like Tabu, Raveena and the suddenly experimental Karisma, Madhuri probably hoped that Gaja Gamini would raise her image as an actress of substance.
But first there were rumours that the film's release had been delayed indefinitely by Madhuri herself. Why would she do that, you ask? Well, if the rumours are to be believed, it's because she suddenly met with a string of flops, ending with the bitterly disappointing fate of Pukar, a film she had poured her heart and soul into without any results. She needed a hit badly, and releasing a Gaja Gamini now might have been the worst thing for her career. So, according to sources close to her, she used stalling tactics to delay the launch, upsetting her 'No. 1 fan' Hussain in the process.
But it still doesn't explain the Saroj Khan snub. What possible reason could there be for the danseuse not getting credit for her work in the film? One camp claims that Madhuri's secretary-turned-producer Rikku (Rakeshnath) is to blame. But as anyone who knows Madhuri, knows very well that Rikku wouldn't even breathe without Madhuri's permission. And even if someone else was responsible for dropping Saroj's name from the film credits, Madhuri certainly has the clout to get it included again. So why won't she do that much at least for an old, dear friend, and a mentor who was directly responsible for her early success? Your guess is as good as our's.
But that's only the tip of the iceberg. Like the giant glacier on which she danced in sub-zero temperatures for that glorious song sequence in Pukar, Madhuri herself seems to have turned her warmth down to near freezing levels of late. Saroj Khan is only one of the many Madhuri "campwallahs" who are upset with her today.
ake Anil Kapoor, for instance. As her co-star in Tezaab, his fortunes were twined with her's just as closely as Saroj Khan's. In fact, he's said to have recommended her so often and so passionately to producers, that they began to wonder if they were actually siblings separated at birth! Their hits together could have formed a filmography that would match any modern superstar screen couple. The magic showed clearly in Ram Lakhan, where even director Subhash Ghai, notorious for being stingy with his compliments, openly praised their jodi and predicted a great future for them as a screen pair.
But today, you'll rarely even hear Anil Kapoor mention Madhuri's name, let alone recommend her. Not that he needs to, of course. But even at her wedding, he only put in a brief appearance and left almost immediately. That was definitely not what you'd expect from an old and dear friend and professional associate.
Again, the sources close to Madhuri claim that Anil was upset at the way she shut him out in the last few years. After the phenomenal success of Dil To Pagal Hai, her attitude to her longtime co-star is said to have changed drastically. And when the time came for her wedding, he was kept as much in the dark as anyone else. Not exactly the way an old friend would expect to be treated!
Perhaps Madhuri was secretly resentful of the fact that Anil had never taken her in one of his home productions, despite their warm professional relationship? She was said to have seethed silently as Sridevi scored big-time in brother Boney's big hits like Mr India and even bigger attempts like Roop Ki Raani Choron Ka Raja. Anil could hardly do anything about that.
Afer all, brother Boney's fascination for Sridevi was no secret even before he finally divorced his wife and married the dusky Southern beauty. But if the sources are correct, Madhuri was irate enough about her exclusion from the Surindar Kapoor-Boney Kapoor production camp to steadily distance herself from brother Anil. A petty form of behaviour and unfair to an old and loyal associate.
hen there's the Sanjay Dutt story. A typical filmi love story, complete with tragic ending. Picture two young passionate co-stars. Brought together in a film that became an overnight romantic classic: Saajan. The romance that began onscreen in that tear jerking heartbreaker continued off screen through a series of liaisons that were said to be heading for only one possible goal - marriage. Sanjay himself made no secret of the fact that he was mad about Madhuri and she didn't deny it hotly either.
At the shooting of their film, Mahaanta, in a Dadar chawl, the two couldn't wait to 'get together' in Madhuri's vanity van for a spot of intimacy!
By the time they starred in Khalnayak, the two were said to be inseparable. Comparisons were being made to Raj Kapoor and Nargis, Dharam and Hema. Sadly, the relationship was doomed to suffer the fate of that first screen couple, not the second. When Sanjay Dutt was arrested under TADA and imprisoned, Madhuri was said to be shaken to the core. Like any image-conscious superstar, she was ultra-anxious about bad publicity. And Sanjay was getting the worst kind of publicity imaginable. At the time, it seemed hopeless for him. People were predicting that he would either commit suicide in jail or his career would commit suicide out of jail.
Madhuri's overnight severing of all bonds with Sanjay might seem practical, even inevitable as a co-star. But as a lover and all-but-fiancee, it was a betrayal of the worst kind. Sanjay, still reeling from the tragedy of his first doomed marriage and staggered by the crushing punitive action taken against him for relatively minor infractions, was said to be broken by her betrayal. Some say he still hasn't got over it.
After the breakup with Sanjay-or betrayal, whichever you prefer-Madhuri seemed to become even more remote and distant than before. Always known for her legendary "ice-queen" aloofness, she began to change in ways that any student of superstardom would recognize. Mumbai MLC Pramod Navalkar was heard complaining loudly that he had tried repeatedly to get her to attend a major charity function. He wouldn't have minded if she had refused on account of a busy schedule, but he's said to have resented the fact that she wouldn't even return his calls!
anjay Leela Bhansali, now riding high in filmdom after the phenomenal success of Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, had his own story of woe. Apparently, back in the pre-Khamoshi days when he was still an unknown entity, just one of a thousand other wannabes, he had tried repeatedly to meet Madhuri and narrate the script of Khamoshi to her. According to a source close to Bhansali, he was repeatedly kept waiting by Madhuri, until finally she's said to have slammed the door of her make-up room in his face. No wonder he tried his luck elsewhere and fared much better with Manisha Koirala, who turned in a brilliant performance-even though the role was actually written with Madhuri in mind.
Now,the same Madhuri has signed on to star in Devdas, directed by the same Sanjay Leela Bhansali. What made her accessible? Obviously, Bhansali's success. The young director is said to be philosophical about her change-of-heart. He claimed to have dreamed of working with her from way back. But even now, his path to filming with her seems to be fraught with problems: Word is that Madhuri might be pregnant. Which means that if it's true, Devdas will just have to wait. Along with all her other commitments and producers.
This last alleged occurrence is a perfect example of Madhuri's other side. As with her marriage, her rumoured pregnancy came as a sudden shock to her co-stars and producers. While nobody can deny her right to have a family, the least the industry expected was a little fair warning. After all, it's films that gave her the wealth and fame that allows her to enjoy her life, including being a contented mother.
Surely she could treat the same industry with a little more respect and consideration? If not by planning her marriage and pregnancy with more foresight, but at least by informing her colleagues of her plans? But according to some, she told nobody about these sudden, life-changing decisions until they were fait accompli, costing producers millions of rupees in lost time and creating havoc with the schedules of co-stars.
Even Subhash Ghai, the mentor who did as much for her career as Saroj Khan and Anil Kapoor, openly revealed his cooling off towards Madhuri in her later, prima donna phase. After raising her star-value immeasurably with superhits like Ram Lakhan and Khalnayak, he might have expected more from her.
But, like so many others, he made the mistake of believing that she was truly the screen goddess of her media image. Whereas she actually seemed to have more in common with a screen vamp
[Edited by gogogirl on 11-13-2000 at 07:44 PM]