Madhuri Dixit: Picture perfect

it would be impertinent to call lajja her 'comeback' vehicle. for, she has always been around. whether it's her body bustle, her undisputed status at the box-office or her sudden marriage, madhuri dixit has always drawn the stares. as the stage actress janaki, in lajja, her body language telegraphs a startling combination of wit and gravity. she gives the film its finest moments.right at this moment, film city is where the action is. she's shooting for shubh vivah for sony. can't divulge much about the programme or the dizzying sum she's being paid... suffice it to say that it's about happy endings. photographs clicked, autographs dispensed with, she turns to vibe with the camera. she pauses for a breather, takes a moment to flash that one-zillion-buck smile, and i take the chance to ask: were you surprised at the response to lajja? i knew we had made a good film. i was happy with my performance. but the response has been overwhelming. you know something? i almost didn't do the film. why? firstly, i wasn't too sure of what my role would be in a multi-star-cast film. secondly, my dates were a problem. rajji (santoshi) finally convinced me. even rekhaji called me up and said that i had to do the film. so that was that. what attracted you to the character of janaki? i felt she was a very emancipated woman. she could take on anyone in the world. she loved a man, and was ready to have his child out of wedlock. moreover, she was financially independent and had a certain native intelligence. i like the line where she says she loves dressing up and getting appreciative looks from people. that's so typical of showbiz. (laughs) actors always worry when they don't get compliments. seriously speaking, the female bonding was also very interesting. so was the agni pariksha and the male-bashing sequence. did you enjoy doing the film? on a simplistic level, it was about female bonding. my scenes with manisha koirala in the theatre where i teach her to whistle and let down her inhibitions were nice. (laughs) well, i was slightly wary of some of the dialogues and coarse words. it was unlike anything i've ever done. the agni pariksha wasn't about male-bashing. janki was just questioning some weather-beaten fundas that society has imposed upon women. my character is just enraged at the double standards and the hypocrisy. there was no bra-burning or jhandebaazi, which is why it was so interesting. especially because it was a pure commercial film. hey, i even got to do a dance number! you've been pretty much of a feminist in your own way, haven't you? my greatest strength is the fact that i'm assertive, not aggressive. i know my mind and i do what i think is correct. i'm not intimidated by a director's stature or a co-star's success ratio. i give respect and demand it in return. (laughs) in the past, some of my male co-stars have told me that i intimidate them. do you intimidate your husband shriram nene as well? oh no, not at all. he is so accommodating. he's forever feeling guilty that he doesn't spend too much time with me. sometimes even when i'm there, he is away from home for 48 hours at a stretch. once he came back home after two days, and found that i had laid out dinner. and he suggested that we should go out for dinner. i was surprised, considering he was so tired. but he didn't even wait to hear me out, he was fast asleep on the dinner table itself! he must be quite wife-proud? he is. he feels a bit sheepish, though, when the other indian surgeons or nri doctors tell him that i'm a star back in india. he's like, 'aw, i like you more off-camera'. he's seen bits of me in pukaar, gaja gamini. he rolls his eyes when he sees my dance numbers. when he was in india, i did take him to the sets of devdas as well. he's quite nonchalant about these things. he's barely getting used to people asking me for autographs at airports and restaurants. were there any dilemmas about marrying him? did you make up your mind easily? after just one meeting with him, i had made up my mind that he was the guy for me. there was some chemistry, and i knew it! it feels strange sometimes. i've done the waiting-for-my-husband act in so many films. when i do it in real life, i can't help but smile to myself. i'd like to work six months a year and spend the other six with him. even when i'm here, we're forever on the chat line. he's working as well as doing his fellowship in cardio thoracic. so i guess, we'll be having a long-distance happy marriage for a couple of years more. someone wrote that i weep buckets at the airport when i'm coming away from there. maybe that makes spicy copy, but i'm not the gushy weepy sort at all. to kill time i even joined a pottery class. recently while i was los angeles, shriram took some time off. so i learnt scuba diving. i'm a competent diver now, i even have a certificate of merit. now, he wants me to try out para-jumping. but i don't think i want to jump off an airplane! my husband showed me a video of his when he went bungee-jumping in new zealand, and my stomach coiled up just watching it. what lies ahead? i'll probably be shooting for the english version of astitva in the us. that'll be a nice way of combining work with holiday. so now can we talk about your tv show shubh vivah? will you have some tea and biscuits instead?